Yahoo confirms 500 million accounts hacked by 'state-sponsored actor'

Yahoo.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Yahoo confirmed Thursday that at least 500 million user accounts were compromised in a massive data breach in late 2014. The hack is suspected to be the work of a "state-sponsored actor," Yahoo said in a statement.

Information including names, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, select passwords, and some security questions and answers may have been stolen, though the company said bank account information and payment card information was likely not accessed.

Yahoo said it will be notifying users who may have been affected and has advised users who have not updated their passwords since 2014 to do so as soon as possible. Evidence suggests the hacker is no longer in Yahoo's network, and the internet company says it has "taken steps" to improve security.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Yahoo is in the midst of being bought by Verizon for $4.83 billion; it is not yet clear how the breach could affect the deal.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us