Stolen information may have included names, email address, birth dates, and scrambled passwords, along with encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers that could help hackers break into victims´ other online accounts, according to Yahoo.
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“As law enforcement and regulators examine this incident, they should investigate whether Yahoo may have concealed its knowledge of this breach in order to artificially bolster its valuation in its pending acquisition by Verizon”, Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator from CT, said.
Yahoo was sued yesterday in a California federal court by a user who accused it of gross negligence in its handling of the massive hacking.
“That said, I’m very familiar with those who work on Yahoo’s security team, who are very competent and experience”.
“There will certainly be financial repercussions for Yahoo!, if not by way of fines and lawsuits, certainly in terms of time and effort to recover, perform an investigation, and further invest in bolstering security”.
Motherboard published a story on August 1 stating Yahoo was “aware” of the hacker’s claims.
“We don’t yet know all the details of how this hack happened, but there is a sobering and important message here for companies that acquire and handle personal data”.
“This could yet be significant and a headache for Verizon in its planned imminent takeover of Yahoo”, he suggested.
The complaint alleges Yahoo took an “unusually long period of time” uncovering the breach, and in the two years since it was hacked and disclosed, people were at risk of identity theft. “When this (breach) became public they put two and two together”. At least that’s what Yahoo is claiming.
Verizon declined to comment on how the breach might affect the deal.
First, the password. According to a Gartner survey, 50% of users reuse their passwords across multiple platforms.
The email breach raises questions about Yahoo’s ability to maintain secure and effective services, particularly since it’s been laying off staff and trimming expenses to counter a steep drop in revenue over the past eight years.
Cyber security experts say there are some steps you can take to prevent loss of your personal data in the future. However that simple duo offers multiple users for ingenious hackers bent on extracting the maximum value from information, say experts. Now this leaves a hacker free rummage through a company’s most sensitive data, wreaking havoc.
That challenge just got more daunting after hackers stole sensitive information from at least 500 million accounts.
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“Data breaches are on the up, it’s nearly a daily occurrence but the damage it causes is massive. You used to be able to see these attacks coming through really quickly after a breach”, said Litan. Users of Yahoo online services were urged to review accounts for suspicious activity and change passwords and security question information used to log in anywhere else if it matched that at Yahoo. “Because the ramifications of data breaches are often felt in the future they will have to consider the implications of any customers who can prove identity issues caused as a result of this particular breach if they are the new owners”.
