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Yahoo Breach Even Bigger Than Thought
Fallen Internet giant Yahoo has revealed that all three billion of its user accounts were compromised in the 2013 security breach - not the mere one billion previously acknowledged.
The firm, now part of the Oath brand created by US telecoms giant Verizon Communications Inc., said the full size of the breach had been revealed by 'an investigation with outside forensic experts' following the acquisition; but assured users that this account information did not include payment card or bank account information, and only encrypted passwords.
Verizon made the purchase in July last year, paying around $4.8bn - although this is said to have come down by $350m when the original announcement about the breach was made in December.
According to the New York Times, hackers stole names, birth dates, phone numbers, and user passwords protected with easy-to-crack encryption. An attorney representing some of the affected Yahoo users and quoted on www.mediapost.com said the new revelation was 'a bombshell' and 'mind-numbing'; while Verizon's Chief Information Security Officer Chandra McMahon said: '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'.
The global online population hit 3 billion in autumn 2014, suggesting that a large proportion of the Yahoo users affected would have had more than one account with the company, but also that a very large proportion of all those using the Internet will have had data stolen.
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