Holding a world record is usually something to be proud of.
Not this time.
Yahoo's recent announcement that it was the victim of the largest data breach of all time, involving over one billion user accounts (yes, that billion, with a "B") sets a new record that no one wants.
According to reports, the breach began in August of 2013 but was only recently discovered. So if you use Yahoo, there is a high likelyhood your account was impacted and that you've been at risk for a long time.
We are still waiting for Yahoo to release any details regarding the identity of the hackers but the investigation is still ongoing.
The scope of the data that was breached is about as bad as it could get. It involves user names, passwords, real names, phone numbers, dates of birth, and passwords. About the only thing the hackers didn’t get was payment and credit card information.
Yahoo has taken the step of notifying all affected account holders and instructing them to change their passwords immediately. But given the scope and scale of the breach, even if you don’t get a notification from the company, you would be well served by taking that precaution, at a minimum.
Once again, this underscores the importance of not using the same password across multiple accounts. If any one of your frequently used sites is breached, you could put several of your accounts at risk, which could easily include unwittingly giving hackers access to your bank accounts, credit cards and more.
The news about the hack couldn’t have come at a worse time. Verizon is currently in the process of purchasing the company, and news like this could impact not only the process, but also the company’s valuation.
Unfortunately, this makes the third significant data breach Yahoo has reported in recent months.
