A person walks in front of a Yahoo sign at the company's headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. Verizon bought Yahoo in a sale announced Monday, July 25, 2016 (Photo: AP)
Yahoo says at least 500 mln accounts hacked in 2014
Data stolen may have included names, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and hashed passwords
Yahoo Inc said on Thursday information associated with at least 500 million user accounts was stolen from its network in 2014 by what it believed was a “state-sponsored actor.”
The data stolen may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and hashed passwords but may not have included unprotected passwords, payment card data or bank account information, the company said.
Biggest data breach
“This is the biggest data breach ever,” said well-known cryptologist Bruce Schneier.
He said it was too early to say what impact the breach might have on Yahoo and its users because many questions remain, including the identity of the state-sponsored hackers behind it.
Three US. intelligence officials, who declined to be identified by name, said they believed the attack was state-sponsored because of its resemblance to previous hacks traced to Russian intelligence agencies or hackers acting at their direction.
Yahoo said it was working with law enforcement on the matter.
