If 500 million Yahoo accounts are hacked, change the password immediately
By Rabindra Dhungel, 17 september 2020. Popular email service provider Yahoo has announced that the accounts of more than 500 million users have been hacked. The hackers reportedly stole users’ sensitive information, including email addresses, passwords, and security questions and answers.
The massive data theft is a “historic blow” not only to Yahoo, which has about 250 million monthly active email users, but to the Internet world as a whole. The US Internet giant Yahoo said in a press release that the attack was “sponsored by the country.” But it was not immediately clear which country carried out the attack.
The secret behind the hacker’s attack on Yahoo in 2014 was revealed by Yahoo only on Thursday. Yahoo, which has been lagging behind its competitors lately, is soon to be bought by Verizon. There are also concerns that Yahoo sales could be affected.
Enter the password again
Yahoo has urged its users to change their passwords immediately through a press release. He is also making such request through email. If you haven’t changed your Yahoo password since 2014, please re-enter it now.
Although Yahoo has been using a security tool called ‘Bikript’ for password protection, Internet security experts have warned that hackers can easily understand it.
Criticism of Yahoo
Yahoo has been widely criticized for making such a big deal public so late. Analysts argue that Yahoo may have lost its credibility by not informing its users in a timely manner. BBC technology correspondent Deb Lee says it should be made clear what “country-sponsored” means.