If you had a Yahoo account in 2013, there’s a 100 percent chance that you were hacked.
Yahoo’s parent company has revealed that the massive data breach that occurred in August of 2013 affective all three billion Yahoo accounts that existed at the time.
Previously, Yahoo said the hack affected 1 billion accounts, or a third of all accounts. Verizon now says new intelligence suggests the attack was much larger, compromising all Yahoo accounts in 2013.
Following Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo, Verizon received new intelligence and now believes, following an investigation, with the assistance of outside forensic experts, that all Yahoo user accounts were affected by the August 2013 theft.
Information stolen from the accounts included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, hashed passwords, and both encrypted and unencrypted security questions and answers. Clear text passwords, bank account information, and credit/debit card information are not believed to have been accessed in the attack.
Verizon has offered the following comment as to Yahoo’s steps to enhance its security:
“Verizon is committed to the highest standards of accountability and transparency, and we proactively work to ensure the safety and security of our users and networks in an evolving landscape of online threats,” said Chandra McMahon, Chief Information Security Officer, Verizon. “Our investment in Yahoo is allowing that team to continue to take significant steps to enhance their security, as well as benefit from Verizon’s experience and resources.”
Yahoo initially uncovered the attack after law enforcement officials provided the company with Yahoo user data from an unknown source. Yahoo notified users it believed were affected in 2016 at the time the attack was disclosed, but the company will now send email notifications to additional user accounts affected by the hack.
Yahoo also experienced data breaches in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
The security breaches affected Verizon’s $4.48 billion June acquisition of Yahoo, leading Yahoo to drop its asking price by $350 million.
Yahoo is presently under SEC investigation for not disclosing the data breach to outside parties sooner, thereby giving affected users the right to take legal action against the company.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.