The 500 Million Yahoo Users Who Need to Change Their Passwords Right Now

By now, you've probably already heard that 500 million of you Yahoo users need to change your password right now because you've been hacked according to Yahoo by a state-sponsored actor. This is not good news for anyone who uses Yahoo as their email provider or has accounts on the platform. The hacking was done two years ago, and it's surprising that we're only hearing about it now.

Yahoo released an unassuming bulletin entitled "An Important Message About Yahoo User Security" in which they revealed that a massive data breach had taken place in 2014. A hack that contained compromising information of half a billion of Yahoo's users was carried out by a state-sponsored actor, as claimed by Yahoo. The use of the term "state-sponsored actor" implies that Yahoo is accusing some government agency of hacking their information.

Although it's worth noting that bcrypt is a very strong encryption method, which means that passwords may be safe, this is little comfort to Yahoo users. Why did we only hear about this now? And why was no explanation provided by Yahoo for not telling us sooner? These are the questions that people like me have to speculate on because, unfortunately, Yahoo didn't provide any answers.

It's worth noting that private information has been on the black market to be bought and sold for nefarious purposes since the hacking took place. This should be a concern for everyone who uses Yahoo. When something happens like this, but no explanation is provided for why we don't know about it sooner, people have to speculate. So, what might have happened recently? Well, Yahoo is negotiating a deal with Verizon to sell to Verizon. This is really Yahoo's only exit strategy right now.

In the past, four years ago, Marissa Mayer took over as CEO of Yahoo. There was hope that she could innovate and do some product innovation to help the company get back to its former glory days. However, it hasn't happened as much as hoped for. So, the only real play now is to sell big to a large player like Verizon.

If you were working for Horizon or as an industrial espionage agent, lawyer, or operative for Verizon, these types of companies often have operatives like this who would leak information after knowing about it just before the final sale to affect the sale and bring down the cost. However, no evidence was provided by Yahoo that this happened in their case.

We should state the obvious now - you need to change your password right away if you're one of the 59% of people who use the same password for all your accounts across different platforms. If you're a geek like some of us, it might not be that easy, but if you are, change all your passwords right now.

We should also mention our beloved sponsor, Freshbooks. They have made it incredibly easy to use their cloud accounting software. You can need invoicing, online payments, or time tracking - they have fantastic solutions for everyone. The best part is that you can even use your Android device to take a snap of your receipts and let fresh books manage your expenses automatically. And the good news is that you can try out their services with no credit card required. Just go to freshbooks.com Android and enter Android authority in the "how did you hear about" section.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso by now you've probably already heard that 500 million of you Yahoo users need to change your password right now because you've been hacked according to Yahoo by a state sponsored actor and this was done two years ago no one nowhere seems to be asking or answering the painfully obvious question why are we only hearing about this now two days ago Yahoo released an unassuming bulletin entitled an important message about Yahoo user Security in it they revealed that a massive data breach had taken place in 2014 a hack that contained compromising information of a half a billion of Yahoo's users Yahoo says that the culprit behind this crime is quote a state sponsored actor a quote state sponsored actor means that Yahoo is accusing some government we don't know who of hacking their information now it should be said that bcrypt is a very very strong encryption method so passwords may be safe although that's not much of a comfort I'm sure to Yahoo users so why why only tell us now did you only find out about this recently and if so that says a lot about your security or did you know about it and for some nefarious reason decided not to tell us and only now well that's a good question because let me tell you that private information your private information has been on the black market to be bought and sold for nefarious purposes that should be a concern you should be upset it's pretty upsetting to me so when this happens and you don't explain why you don't answer an obvious question people like me have to speculate so I'm going to speculate what has happened recently well Yahoo is negotiating a deal with Verizon to sell to Verizon which is really only or Yahoo's only exit that's their only big play right now years ago what four years ago now however long it was Marissa Meer took over as CEO of Yahoo it was a hope there was a big hope that she could innovate do some product Innovation and really revolutionize the company to come back to its former glory days that hasn't happened so much so the only real play now is to sell big to sell to a big player like Verizon so if I was working for Horizon and I was an industrial Espionage or I was a lawyer or I was an operative for Verizon all these big company have operatives like this I would would leak this information after I know it just before the final sale to affect the sale to bring that cost down do I have any evidence to that fact no but Yahoo has not provided us any other information so we got to speculate we got to answer it because users like you are obviously going to ask that question I'm asking that question and I read the article I read the uh the pr uh the press release that Yahoo put out nothing not even a boo about it so is that it I think that probably has something to do with it let me know what you think in the comments below but before we go we should State the obvious that you need to change your password and you need to change them now and if you're one of the 59% of the people in the world that use the same password for all your accounts across platforms I'm sure many of you Geeks aren't like that but if you are change all your passwords change them now I think it's safe to say that pretty much everyone hates day-to-day admin work that's why our beloved sponsor freshbooks has made it ridiculously easy to use their Cloud accounting software whether you need easy invoicing online payments or time tracking freshbook has fantastic solutions for you you can even use your Android device to take a snap of your receipts and have fresh books manage your expenses automatically for a 30-day unrestricted free trial with no credit card required just go to freshbooks.com Android and enter Android authority in the how did you hear about a section that's freshbooks.com Android Stso by now you've probably already heard that 500 million of you Yahoo users need to change your password right now because you've been hacked according to Yahoo by a state sponsored actor and this was done two years ago no one nowhere seems to be asking or answering the painfully obvious question why are we only hearing about this now two days ago Yahoo released an unassuming bulletin entitled an important message about Yahoo user Security in it they revealed that a massive data breach had taken place in 2014 a hack that contained compromising information of a half a billion of Yahoo's users Yahoo says that the culprit behind this crime is quote a state sponsored actor a quote state sponsored actor means that Yahoo is accusing some government we don't know who of hacking their information now it should be said that bcrypt is a very very strong encryption method so passwords may be safe although that's not much of a comfort I'm sure to Yahoo users so why why only tell us now did you only find out about this recently and if so that says a lot about your security or did you know about it and for some nefarious reason decided not to tell us and only now well that's a good question because let me tell you that private information your private information has been on the black market to be bought and sold for nefarious purposes that should be a concern you should be upset it's pretty upsetting to me so when this happens and you don't explain why you don't answer an obvious question people like me have to speculate so I'm going to speculate what has happened recently well Yahoo is negotiating a deal with Verizon to sell to Verizon which is really only or Yahoo's only exit that's their only big play right now years ago what four years ago now however long it was Marissa Meer took over as CEO of Yahoo it was a hope there was a big hope that she could innovate do some product Innovation and really revolutionize the company to come back to its former glory days that hasn't happened so much so the only real play now is to sell big to sell to a big player like Verizon so if I was working for Horizon and I was an industrial Espionage or I was a lawyer or I was an operative for Verizon all these big company have operatives like this I would would leak this information after I know it just before the final sale to affect the sale to bring that cost down do I have any evidence to that fact no but Yahoo has not provided us any other information so we got to speculate we got to answer it because users like you are obviously going to ask that question I'm asking that question and I read the article I read the uh the pr uh the press release that Yahoo put out nothing not even a boo about it so is that it I think that probably has something to do with it let me know what you think in the comments below but before we go we should State the obvious that you need to change your password and you need to change them now and if you're one of the 59% of the people in the world that use the same password for all your accounts across platforms I'm sure many of you Geeks aren't like that but if you are change all your passwords change them now I think it's safe to say that pretty much everyone hates day-to-day admin work that's why our beloved sponsor freshbooks has made it ridiculously easy to use their Cloud accounting software whether you need easy invoicing online payments or time tracking freshbook has fantastic solutions for you you can even use your Android device to take a snap of your receipts and have fresh books manage your expenses automatically for a 30-day unrestricted free trial with no credit card required just go to freshbooks.com Android and enter Android authority in the how did you hear about a section that's freshbooks.com Android St\n"