Yahoo! data breaches
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (September 2016) |
On September 22, 2016 Yahoo reported that account information for up to 500 million user had been hacked.[1] Yahoo alleged in its statement that the act was "state sponsored."[2] It was believed that the hack compromised personal data from the accounts including names, addresses, passwords, telephone numbers and possibly encrypted information including security questions.[3] Further the statement claimed that the hacker was no longer in Yahoo's system and that the company was fully cooperating with law enforcement.[2] Users were advised to be wary of unusual activity in their accounts including suspicious emails.[1] Security experts cautioned that the incident could have far reaching consequences involving privacy including potentially including finance and banking as well as personal information about friends, family and more personal aspects of people's lives that could be culled from emails.[1] It was not immediately certain how long the company had been aware of the breach.[2] Yahoo's confirmation of the data breach came almost two months after the company said it was investigating claims that a hacker, who previously sold data taken from LinkedIn and MySpace,[4][5] was offering stolen user account details from 200 million Yahoo accounts on the dark web marketplace, "The Real Deal".[6][7]
References
- ^ a b c "Yahoo Says Hackers Stole Data on 500 Million Users in 2014". New York Times. September 22, 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ a b c "Yahoo confirms data breach affecting at least 500 million accounts". Washington Post. September 22, 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ "Yahoo Says 'State-Sponsored Actor' Hacked 500M Accounts". NBC News. September 22, 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ Greenberg, Andy. "An Interview With the Hacker Probably Selling Your Password Right Now". WIRED. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ Cox, Joseph. "The Administrator of the Dark Web's Infamous Hacking Market Has Vanished". Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ Szoldra, Paul. "The dark web marketplace where you can buy 200 million Yahoo accounts is under cyberattack". Business Insider. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ Brian, Womack. "Yahoo Says at Least 500 Million Accounts Breached in Attack". Bloomberg. Retrieved 22 September 2016.