Yahoo Confirms Data Breach of 500 Million Accounts
On Thursday, September 22, Yahoo released a statement confirming information from 500 million accounts was stolen in late 2014.
Yahoo believes the account information stolen could have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords, and “in some cases,” encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. An investigation into the matter showed that payment card data, unprotected passwords and bank account information was not affected.
In the statement, Yahoo said they were taking action by notifying potentially affected users and asking them to change their passwords and “adopt alternative means of account verification.”
Yahoo encourages all users to change their password and the security questions that protect their account, review all accounts for suspicious activity and be cautious of unsolicited communications that ask for personal information.
Tech websites reported the Yahoo breach before it was confirmed, having been tipped off by a large data dump of account credentials being sold online.