Yahoo reveals hack affected more than 1 billion users

The company said the recent information about the hack, which occurred in August 2013, was associated with the announcement it made in October. Is there a way to repair the damage?

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

The hack occurred in August 2013, but the company just revealed the news this week—and it doesn’t exactly know how it happened. The recent news adds to Yahoo’s announcement in September that data from 500 million users was compromised.

Yahoo’s chief information security officer, Bob Lord, wrote in a blog post:

We have not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft. We believe this incident is likely distinct from the incident we disclosed on September 22, 2016.

Lord said the stolen information could include “names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers.”

RELATED: Keep your cool in a crisis with these tips.

The breach could have a devastating impact on Yahoo’s already struggling image.

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.