However, Yahoo consoles that unprotected passwords, bank account details and payment card information were not taken away by the hackers.
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The company is now notifying potentially affected users, and urging people to promptly change their passwords and account verification methods.
Although, the impact of the hack may be light but it is not inconsequential as it may affect the sale of Yahoo’s $4.8bn deal with Verizon.
Yahoo announced Thursday that it had been the victim of a massive hacking that compromised at least 500 million user accounts, with the company claiming the breach was sponsored by a government.
An investigation is still continuing into the breach, which Yahoo said happened in late 2014. The industry has been warning users for years that they need different complex passwords for each account they use online. They were also asked to change passwords.
The global tech firm confirmed that information from the large number of user accounts was stolen from its network in 2014.
Motherboard had reported that a hacker named Peace was selling data on 200 million users of Yahoo!, including user names, birth dates, email addresses and encrypted passwords, all for three bitcoins (worth about $1,800).
“Yahoo is working closely with law enforcement on this matter”, the statement from the internet-giant added. He said customer awareness is key when it comes to protecting valuable information.
Clients should also update their security questions, be wary about opening emails or downloading attachments from suspect senders and be prudent about any request for personal information.
The attack on the firm’s network – which dates back to late 2014 – is the biggest such theft of user data to date.
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Yahoo might have to force users to reset their passwords, the Recode report said, citing unnamed sources. The company said it will “evaluate as the investigation continues”. In a statement, Verizon said that it was made aware of the breach within the last two days and had limited information about the matter.
