Yahoo which now part of Oath released a statement today that all Yahoo user accounts were seized by the August 2013 data breach.
Previously they announced that “more than one billion user accounts” may have been stolen by hackers during the attack that took place in August 2013.
Yahoo suffered another distinct data breach on September 22, 2016, which compromised 500 million user accounts.
They take protection against users by directly reporting impacted users identified at the time, requiring password changes and invalidating unencrypted security questions and answers because from the second quarter of 2013 the only yahoo started using Bccrypt for Hashing passwords, before that they used MD5.
Subsequent to Yahoo’s acquisition by Verizon, and during integration, the company recently obtained new intelligence and now believes, following an investigation with the assistance of outside forensic experts, that all Yahoo user accounts were affected by the August 2013 theft.
Now they started sending emails to all additional user accounts and stolen data doesn’t include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information.
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Previously Yahoo’s chief information security officer Bob Lord said in a statement the company published Wednesday afternoon. “We have not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft.”
Leaked details still remain secret, besides the range of affected users and that hackers stole names, email addresses, date of birth, phone numbers, hashed passwords, safety questions and answers.
Our investment in Yahoo is allowing that team to continue to take significant steps to enhance their security, as well as benefit from Verizon’s experience and resources.
Common Defences to protect your account
- Change your passwords and security questions and answers for any other accounts on which you used the same or similar information used for your account;
- Review all of your accounts for suspicious activity;
- Be cautious of any unsolicited communications that ask for your personal information or refer you to a web page asking for personal information;
- Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails; and
- Consider using Account Key, a simple authentication tool that eliminates the need to use a password on Yahoo altogether.
