Yahoo’s Security Breach Is No Halloween Trick

Monday, November 20, 2017 6:56 pm, Posted by Absolute Destruction

Grocery stores have their seasonal walls of chocolate and candy, your neighbour has his elaborately designed cemetery on his front lawn, and Netflix has their classic horror films on their main menu again. These are just a few of the many signs that Halloween is coming — sooner than you think!

As the GTA is gearing up for the spookiest time of the year, here at Absolute Destruction, we don’t need to wait until the ghosts and ghouls come trick or treating to get a fright. With the latest new reports about majority security breaches, we find real life scary enough!

Let us give you a bit of context. Our regular readers know that, in addition to paper shredding Toronto and the GTA can rely on us for the latest news on identity theft and cybersecurity. As such, we reported on the most recent security breach affecting Equifax customers. The attack impacted an astonishing 145.5 million people — 8,000 of whom are Canadian.

While these numbers are staggering on their own, they aren’t the worst when it comes to security breaches. Equifax’s cybersecurity failures have been overshadowed by the latest new reports from Yahoo.

To refresh your memory, Yahoo was the target of two massive cyberattacks dating back to 2013. The breaches landed a devastating blow to the web services company, as it had to undercut its final sales figure by $350 million when selling its main business to Verizon.

Despite it being several years later, Yahoo’s streak of bad luck is far from over. In what Yahoo is calling “recently obtained new intelligence”, the world has learnt the impact of this fraud is far greater than anyone expected. Initial news reports said over 1 billion of its customers were affected. Now, its ongoing investigation reveals all 3 billion of its accounts were compromised, cementing its title as the largest breach in history.

As with most of these security breaches, poor security is to blame. Account information was protected by out-dated encryption techniques that were simple to hack. While most of the information exposed in the hack didn’t include passwords or any financial information like credit card numbers, the breach did reveal backup email addresses and security questions that could make it easier for criminals to hack additional accounts.

Already facing 41 consumer class-action lawsuits in the US, Yahoo can expect more shareholders and account holders to file against them. Meanwhile Verizon — which has combined its newly owned Yahoo with its AOL subsidiary to create Oath, a new digital media and online advertising company — promises renewed commitment to transparency and online security. As you would expect, the latest news has had negative impact on Oath’s reception.

As with Equifax’s security breach, the attack on Yahoo serves as a reminder of how important effective security is in the fight against identity theft. If you’re ready to beef up your personal or business security efforts this fall, call us anytime. As the GTA’s trusted paper shredding and electronic data destruction experts, we can develop physical security techniques that keep important information safe, even after you don’t need it any more.

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