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Yahoo says hackers stole information from about 500 million users in 2014 in what appears to be the largest publicly disclosed cyber-breach in history.[/[/b]Password change urgedNews of a possible major attack on the technology firm emerged in August when a hacker known as "Peace" was apparently attempting to sell information on 200 million Yahoo accounts. Yahoo on Thursday confirmed the breach was far bigger than first thought. The data taken includes names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and encrypted passwords. Yahoo recommended all users should change their passwords if they had not done so since 2014.Questions for Yahoo: Analysis by Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter, San FranciscoThe nature of the information stolen feels somewhat run of the mill - no payment info, and passwords were encrypted. Good. But the chain of events leading up to this unprecedented announcement gives rise to some incredibly pressing questions for Yahoo. Why did it take so long for them to confirm the hack and its scale? Why did it take them so long to tell users and prompt them to protect themselves? State-sponsored attacks are typically for political, not financial gain. So why were details reportedly being sold online? What evidence is there that it was state-sponsored?Verizon, which has agreed to buy Yahoo, said it had not been told until a couple of days ago - why not? And why is Marissa Mayer, a chief executive who has presided over bad deals and now the biggest breach in internet history, still in charge? Verizon told the BBC it had learned of the hack "within the last two days" and said it had "limited information" The company added: "We will evaluate as the investigation continues through the lens of overall Verizon interests, including consumers, customers, shareholders and related communities. "Until then, we are not in position to further comment."Yahoo said in a statement: "Online intrusions and thefts by state-sponsored actors have become increasingly common across the technology industry."Reuters reported three unnamed US intelligence officials as saying they believed the attack was state-sponsored because it was similar to previous hacks linked to Russian intelligence agencies.Nikki Parker, vice-president at security company Covata, said: "Yahoo is likely to come under intense scrutiny from regulators, the media and public and rightly so. Corporations can't shy away from data breaches and they must hold their hands up and show that they are committed to resolving the problem." She added: "Let's hope the ink is dry on the contract with Verizon."Questions are being asked about the length of time it took Yahoo to fully acknowledge the breach. "It is really worrying that a breach from 2014 can have gone undetected for so long," said Prof Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey. "It is also surprising the public statement took so long to appear.quote][/It happened two years ago and now they tell us !!! As regards password changes there's an old saying that comes to mind, "Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted".b]Full article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37447016
