Yahoo Was HACKED! 5 Things To Do If You’ve Ever Created An Account

Just last week Wednesday, Yahoo made a confirmation that there was a massive breach in its service and over 500 million user accounts were affected.

Before you start panicking, let’s talk a little about this breach.

What were these hackers looking for?

According to the Chief Information Security Officer of Yahoo, Bob Lord had said in a blog post that account information  is taken “may have” included names, email address, telephone numbers and dates of birth. Bob also said that concerning the password information – both passwords and a couple of security questions were stolen although the passwords were not in plain text!

How about financial information?

Concerning financial information, Yahoo is still carrying out an investigation. Bob Lord made full claims that the hackers did not get hold of financial information like payment card data and credit card numbers because those informations are stored in a separate system.

I was asked to advice all you “friends of techkibay” to check our credit scores just to confirm that no one has opened a new account in your name because information gotten from such major breach are good enough to open an account.

Now, how to know if you’re affected

If you were affected, Yahoo will contact you through mail, check the email text here.

Don’t forget to be on the look out for scammers who will send scam mails claiming to be staff trying to rectify the breach. They will eventually get more information from you all in the name of verifying information.

What’s the next thing to do on my YAHOO account?

All Yahoo users have been asked to change their passwords. Users should also choose new security questions and answers because the previous one will be invalidated.

If you are like my dad who hasn’t changed his YAHOO account password since 2014, you’ve got to change it just to be on a safer side.

[Read Also: Verizon Wants To Buy Yahoo For $4.8 Billion]

Now you’ve known a little about the hack; here is a quick summary on how you can get on the safer side

If you’ve ever created a Yahoo account, take these steps immediately to protect your data

1. Change all your passwords

2. Review old emails, delete sensitive content and disconnect accounts

3. Switch to Gmail or use encryption

4. Enable two-factor authentication for all accounts and update apps

5. Don’t open shady emails

Here is a guide on how to complete all steps above

Like the saying goes, “A word is enough for the wise!”. Act fast if you have a Yahoo account