Another big internet player has confessed to being the victim of a past significant data hack. This time it’s Yahoo! and it says that late in 2014 they were the victim of a “state-sponsored” data breach. You can read the full statement here.
So what data was stolen? User names, addresses, phone numbers, encrypted password details seem to be in the wild now. But Yahoo! says that payments details have not been compromised.
Yahoo! says: “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.”
And they advise: “Yahoo encourages users to review their online accounts for suspicious activity and to change their password and security questions and answers for any other accounts on which they use the same or similar information used for their Yahoo account.”
It’s not great news for Yahoo! which is currently under a multi-billion offer f purchase from Verizon. But it is a useful reminder to stay vigilant and exercise password discipline.
Have you been affected?
