Yahoo Reveals That 1 Billion User Accounts Have Been Hacked

Chances are that next time you will log into your Yahoo account, you will be warned that there has been some sort of security issue and that you should probably change your password. Not too long ago, Yahoo admitted that 1 billion of its user accounts have been compromised, and stolen data might include phone numbers, email addresses, names, dates of birth and hashed passwords. Fortunately, it appears that financial information was not affected, as Yahoo claimed that it stored that information elsewhere. In September this year, the company revealed that at least 500 million accounts have been hacked in 2014, but forensic experts don’t believe that these two incidents are related.

Furthermore, Yahoo disclosed that a third party has accessed its proprietary code and allowed an intruder to create fake cookies in order to access user accounts without even needing a password. As such, the company advises its users to avoid downloading attachments or clicking links from suspicious emails. Having over 1 billion accounts hacked is definitely bad news for Yahoo, and while Verizon has agreed to purchase it for $4.8 billion, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to believe that the telecommunications company might ask for a discount.

It’s definitely a good idea to change the password on your account just to be on the safe side. I know I did.