Half-A-Billion Reasons To Not Use Free E-mail
Certification Magazine|January 2017

What businesses and individuals should learn from the Yahoo! breach.

Mike Chapple
Half-A-Billion Reasons To Not Use Free E-mail

On September 26, 2016, Yahoo! announced to the world that they were the victim of the largest systematic account compromise in the history of the Internet. Attackers managed to penetrate Yahoo!’s network as early as 2014 and steal account information belonging to more than 500 million Yahoo! users.

News of the breach at Yahoo! rocked the cybersecurity world as use of the service is so widespread, ranging from hosting personal e-mail accounts on the Yahoo.com domain to managing thousands of fantasy football, baseball, and basketball leagues on their servers, and hosting millions of photographs through their Flickr service.

Indeed, it’s hard to imagine an American Internet user who hasn’t had some need to create a Yahoo! account over the past decade.

The not-usual suspects

In their announcement of the attack, Yahoo! revealed that the attackers walked away with a treasure trove of information. They didn’t tell individual users what information was stolen about their account but admitted that the theft included full names, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, and the answers to security questions.

That’s more than enough information to wage an identity theft attack against Yahoo! users and access accounts belonging to those users on Yahoo! and other services. While users can’t unring the proverbial bell and retrieve their stolen information, they should presume that this information was compromised and take immediate actions to protect themselves online.

Yahoo! described the attack as coming from a source that they “believe is a state-sponsored actor.” Without naming a specific country, Yahoo! is alleging that the attack comes from what cybersecurity professionals call an advanced persistent threat (APT). 

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2017 من Certification Magazine.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2017 من Certification Magazine.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE مشاهدة الكل
Wanted: Your Cloud Computing Skills
Certification Magazine

Wanted: Your Cloud Computing Skills

Employers need cloud computing expertise, but demand is outstripping supply

time-read
6 mins  |
October 2020
The Job Before Your First Job
Certification Magazine

The Job Before Your First Job

An IT internship can be your strong first step toward a rewarding professional career

time-read
10 mins  |
October 2020
Professionalizing the CLOUD
Certification Magazine

Professionalizing the CLOUD

A conversation with the exam architect behind the hottest certification in cloud security

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2020
SETTING HIS SIGHTS ON SUCCESS
Certification Magazine

SETTING HIS SIGHTS ON SUCCESS

Ohio IT student has mastered computer repair, cybersecurity, and certification

time-read
10 mins  |
October 2020
The Typist Who Became a Technologist
Certification Magazine

The Typist Who Became a Technologist

Long time Utah IT educator got her first exposure to computers in high school

time-read
10+ mins  |
October 2020
Pick a Cloud, Any Cloud
Certification Magazine

Pick a Cloud, Any Cloud

Which cloud computing models best support business aims — and which ones should you learn?

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2020
Here, There, and Everywhere
Certification Magazine

Here, There, and Everywhere

Distributed cloud computing is bringing the cloud closer to all of us

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2020
Master of Efficiency
Certification Magazine

Master of Efficiency

A skilled operations analyst fine tunes processes to help organizations flourish

time-read
6 mins  |
October 2020
Learn Smarter, Not Harder
Certification Magazine

Learn Smarter, Not Harder

Everyone is doing online learning now — but that doesn’t mean they’re doing it right

time-read
10 mins  |
October 2020
From Horizon to Horizon
Certification Magazine

From Horizon to Horizon

No matter where you look, cloud technology is blanketing the IT industry

time-read
9 mins  |
October 2020