New reports from Yahoo confirm the largest data breach in history. This is the second data breach the company has announced this year.
In a new blog post from Yahoo, they have confirmed the largest data breach in history: 1 Billion accounts. Yahoo recently disclosed a breach in September that took place in 2014 of over 500 million users, and they have no release details on a second breach that took place previously. According to Yahoo, in August of 2013 a third-party gained unauthorized access and stole data relating to over 1 Billion users including over 150,000 us government officials. They believe that this was unrelated to the breach that took place in 2014. In regards to the data that was stolen, Yahoo has stated:
“…the stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. The investigation indicates that the stolen information did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information.”
If you have been a user at Yahoo during this time period it is recommended that you change your password and update security questions, although Yahoo is notifying affected accounts. Yahoo has been on the verge of a large acquisition deal with Verizon for months now, and it’s unclear if this will affect the purchase. After the first breach was disclosed, Verizon had stated that Yahoo had been put on notice that the breach may affect the deal. However now that a second breach has been disclosed experts are speculating that Verizon may scrap the deal altogether or seek a much lower purchase price for the company.
Users of Yahoo should take precaution and update their passwords and security questions so their accounts remain secure.
