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Every Yahoo Account Was Hacked: 3 Billion

Posted: October 4, 2017 to News.

Tags: Data Breach, Digital Forensics, Malware

Do you remember the Yahoo hack from a while back? At first the company reported that about 200 million Yahoo accounts had been compromised. They later changed that to one billion hacked Yahoo accounts. Now they're admitting that the real number was, well, all of them, a total of about three billion Yahoo accounts hacked. Yes, every Yahoo account was hacked, so before you do anything else, go update your Yahoo login credentials if you didn't do that before now. Go ahead, we'll wait. Did you do it? No, of course you didn't. Seriously, go do it now. Please. Okay, maybe you did, maybe you didn't, but we'll continue. To recap why it's important, the hack from nearly four years ago included a lot of personal information, including information that could be used to hack other accounts of yours, including your name, phone number, email addresses, date of birth, security questions and answers, and your password. If you have a tendency to use the same password for multiple accounts, you should go ahead and change those too. Yes, it's a pain in the butt, but it's better to spend an afternoon changing all your passwords (and making them unique) than to have your identity stolen. To be clear, it doesn't appear Yahoo was withholding information about the breach. A statement by Oath, which is the part of Verizon that Yahoo was merged with after they acquired the beleaguered former internet giant, says: Subsequent to Yahoo's acquisition by Verizon, and during integration, the company recently obtained 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.

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About the Author

Craig Petronella, CEO and Founder of Petronella Technology Group
CEO, Founder & AI Architect, Petronella Technology Group

Craig Petronella founded Petronella Technology Group in 2002 and has spent more than 30 years working at the intersection of cybersecurity, AI, compliance, and digital forensics. He holds the CMMC Registered Practitioner credential (RP-1372) issued by the Cyber AB, is an NC Licensed Digital Forensics Examiner (License #604180-DFE), and completed MIT Professional Education programs in AI, Blockchain, and Cybersecurity. Craig also holds CompTIA Security+, CCNA, and Hyperledger certifications.

He is an Amazon #1 Best-Selling Author of 15+ books on cybersecurity and compliance, host of the Encrypted Ambition podcast (95+ episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon), and a cybersecurity keynote speaker with 200+ engagements at conferences, law firms, and corporate boardrooms. Craig serves as Contributing Editor for Cybersecurity at NC Triangle Attorney at Law Magazine and is a guest lecturer at NCCU School of Law. He has served as a digital forensics expert witness in federal and state court cases involving cybercrime, cryptocurrency fraud, SIM-swap attacks, and data breaches.

Under his leadership, Petronella Technology Group has served 2,500+ clients, maintained a zero-breach record among compliant clients, earned a BBB A+ rating every year since 2003, and been featured as a cybersecurity authority on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and WRAL. The company leverages SOC 2 Type II certified platforms and specializes in AI implementation, managed cybersecurity, CMMC/HIPAA/SOC 2 compliance, and digital forensics for businesses across the United States.

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