Yahoo have said that “a state-sponsored actor” has stolen data related to some 500 million user accounts from its network at the end of 2014.
According to a source who spoke with ABC News, the web portal only got to know about the breach “in the last few weeks.”
According to Yahoo, the information stolen could include names, email addresses, dates of birth, telephone numbers, password information and also data gotten from the question-answer combinations for security questions which are used mostly to change password.
Following reports in late July of a hacker who had stolen data from the web portal and intended to sell the credentials for 280 million account users, Yahoo launched internal investigations, according to an unidentified source.
The source told ABC News that the investigation initially revealed no “evidence to substantiate the hacker’s claims,” however, after the scope of the investigation was widened, the team found traces of a breach that the company believes to have occurred in 2014.
News of the breach is coming at a time where Verizon and Yahoo try to conclude an acquisition deal which was announced on July 25, which would see that Verizon would own Yahoo.
Yahoo released the statement on Thursday, September 22, 2016.
Read the rest of the statement:
By Bob Lord, CISO
A recent investigation by Yahoo has confirmed that a copy of certain user account information was stolen from the company’s network in late 2014 by what it believes is a state-sponsored actor.
The account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (the vast majority with bcrypt) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers.
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.
Based on the ongoing investigation, Yahoo believes that information associated with at least 500 million user accounts was stolen and the investigation has found no evidence that the state-sponsored actor is currently in Yahoo’s network. Yahoo is working closely with law enforcement on this matter.
We are taking action to protect our users:
- We are notifying potentially affected users. The content of the email Yahoo is sending to those users will be available at https://yahooo.com/security-notice-content beginning at 11:30 am (PDT).
- We are asking potentially affected users to promptly change their passwords and adopt alternate means of account verification.
- We invalidated unencrypted security questions and answers so they cannot be used to access an account.
- We are recommending that all users who haven’t changed their passwords since 2014 do so.
- We continue to enhance our systems that detect and prevent unauthorized access to user accounts.
- We are working closely with law enforcement on this matter.
We encourage our users to follow these security recommendations:
- Change your password and security questions and answers for any other accounts on which you used the same or similar information used for your Yahoo account.
- Review your accounts for suspicious activity.
- Be cautious of any unsolicited communications that ask for your personal information or refer you to a web page asking for personal information.
- Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails.
Additionally, please consider using Yahoo Account Key, a simple authentication tool that eliminates the need to use a password altogether.
An increasingly connected world has come with increasingly sophisticated threats. Industry, government and users are constantly in the crosshairs of adversaries. Through strategic proactive detection initiatives and active response to unauthorized access of accounts, Yahoo will continue to strive to stay ahead of these ever-evolving online threats and to keep our users and our platforms secure.
For more information about this issue and our security resources, please visit the Yahoo Security Issue FAQs page, https://yahooo.com/security-update, which will be up beginning at 12pm (PDT).
Statements in this press release regarding the findings of Yahoo’s ongoing investigation involve potential risks and uncertainties.
The final conclusions of the investigation may differ from the findings to date due to various factors including, but not limited to, the discovery of new or additional information and other developments that may arise during the course of the investigation.
More information about potential risks and uncertainties of security breaches that could affect the Company’s business and financial results is included under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, which is on file with the SEC and available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov./
