Yahoo’s announcement that state-sponsored hackers have stolen the details of at least 500 million accounts shocks both through scale — it’s the largest data breach ever — and the potential security implications for users.
That’s because Yahoo, unlike MySpace, LinkedIn and other online services that suffered large breaches in recent years, is an email provider; and email accounts are central to users’ online lives. Not only are email addresses used for private communications, but they serve as recovery points and log-in credentials for accounts on many other websites.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here