Yahoo says every account was affected by 2013 breach

10/3/2017
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
A Yahoo sign at the company's headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. On Tuesday, Yahoo tripled down on what was already the largest data breach in history, saying it affected all 3 billion of its users, not the 1 billion it revealed in late 2016.
A Yahoo sign at the company's headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. On Tuesday, Yahoo tripled down on what was already the largest data breach in history, saying it affected all 3 billion of its users, not the 1 billion it revealed in late 2016.

All 3 billion Yahoo accounts were affected by a 2013 data breach — three times as many as the company first reported.

In December, Yahoo disclosed that hackers stole information that could be connected to more than 1 billion accounts, an incident that was then believed to be the most users affected in a single breach.

The company updated that tally Tuesday, saying on its website that outside forensic experts analyzed “recently obtained additional information” that shows “all accounts that existed at the time of the August 2013 theft were likely affected.”

The stolen data could include names, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, passwords that have been scrambled, or “hashed,” and encrypted or unencrypted security questions or answers, the company said.

Hackers did not obtain “passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information,” according to the company, which is now part of Oath.