Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
eWEEK.com
Search
eWEEK.com
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Yahoo Confirms Data Breach Affecting Over 500M Accounts

    By
    SEAN MICHAEL KERNER
    -
    September 22, 2016
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Yahoo data breach

      After nearly two months of speculation, Yahoo at 2:28 p.m. ET on Sept. 22 confirmed what many had suspected—the company was the victim of a massive data breach.

      The breach, which was initially alleged to affect 200 million accounts, in fact, impacted at least 500 million user accounts, according to Yahoo.

      Additionally, the breach was first reported to have occurred in 2012, but Yahoo is now confirming that the breach actually happened in 2014. On Aug. 1, 2016, a hacker known as Peace first alleged that he had 200 million Yahoo user accounts gained from a breach and he was selling them for three Bitcoins, which is worth approximately $1,900.

      At the time, Yahoo would only publicly state that it was investigating the claim. The initial phase of the investigation has now been completed.

      “A recent investigation by Yahoo Inc. has confirmed that a copy of certain user account information was stolen from the company’s network in late 2014 by what it believes is a state-sponsored actor,” Yahoo’s press release states.

      The stolen user account information includes names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, passwords and account security questions. Yahoo stated that the passwords were hashed with the bcrypt algorithm. Bcrypt is a secure hashing algorithm, which aims to scramble passwords to make it more difficult for an attacker to be able to decipher.

      “The ongoing investigation suggests that stolen information did not include unprotected passwords, payment card data, or bank account information; payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system that the investigation has found to be affected,” Yahoo stated in an FAQ on the breach.

      Yahoo is also claiming that the state-sponsored attacker behind the breach is not still in the company’s network. The company is working with law enforcement to track down the perpetrators of the breach.

      Yahoo recommends that users who haven’t changed their account passwords since 2014 do so immediately. The company is also in the process of notifying all the impacted users and has already taken several proactive steps to minimize risk. Among the steps taken is that security questions and answers used for password resets have been invalidated.

      Yahoo is also warning users about potential phishing risks related to the breach and advising users not to click on links in emails.

      “If the email you received about this issue prompts you to click on a link, download an attachment, or asks you for information, the email was not sent by Yahoo and may be an attempt to steal your personal information,” Yahoo’s FAQ states.

      With the number of affected user accounts at more than 500 million, the Yahoo breach now stands alone as one of the largest ever confirmed. LinkedIn this year confirmed that it was the victim of a 2012 breach that affected 100 million users.

      Yahoo actually had previously confirmed that it was also the victim of a breach in 2012 as a result of a SQL injection attack. That attack, however, only affected 450,000 Yahoo users.

      Confirmation of the massive breach comes at a time of transition for Yahoo as the company is currently being acquired by Verizon for $4.38 billion. It’s unclear what, if any, impact the massive breach disclosure by Yahoo will have on the pending acquisition.

      Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      EWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      ZEUS KERRAVALA - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      WAYNE RASH - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Info

      © 2020 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×