Over One Billion Yahoo Accounts Compromised ⇥ yahoo.tumblr.com

In a post on Tumblr that is not a repeat from 2012 or 2014, yet feels entirely familiar, Yahoo is admitting to an enormous security breach — this time, from 2013.

Bob Lord of Yahoo:

As we previously disclosed in November, law enforcement provided us with data files that a third party claimed was Yahoo user data. We analyzed this data with the assistance of outside forensic experts and found that it appears to be Yahoo user data. Based on further analysis of this data by the forensic experts, we believe an unauthorized third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with more than one billion user accounts. We have not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft. We believe this incident is likely distinct from the incident we disclosed on September 22, 2016.

For potentially affected accounts, the stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. The investigation indicates that the stolen information did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information. Payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system the company believes was affected.

In September 2013, Yahoo said that they had 800 million monthly active users, which means that a breach of over a billion accounts likely comprises the vast majority — if not the entirety — of Yahoo’s user base.

I wonder how the transition to Verizon ownership is going.