Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The database of over 1 billion Yahoo users is up for grabs on the “dark web,” according to a U.S.-based cybersecurity firm, InfoArmor. The firm’s Chief Intelligence Officer, Andrew Komarov revealed that their firm recently found out that hackers who obtained the database in 2013 sold the complete database to three willing buyers. According to a New York Times report, InfoArmor regularly monitors the “dark web” where criminals and spies lurk and they found out that two spammers and one espionage-related entity paid $300,000 each for the database. The database is said to include names, birthdates, phone numbers, passwords, as well as security questions and back-up email addresses of over a billion users of Yahoo. It is estimated that millions of these back-up addresses were those of military personnel and government employees from all over the world, 150,000 of which are Americans. Two Data Breaches The database was acquired during a data breach in 2013 which was disclosed earlier this week by Yahoo. According to Yahoo officials, the hack occurred in 2013 and around one billion accounts were compromised. This is the second massive data breach that has happened to the company. In September, they disclosed that over 500 million accounts were affected by a 2014 hack. According to the report, Yahoo was unaware of this other security breach up until information from the hack surfaced and caught the attention of law enforcement agencies, who then informed Yahoo. This prompted the company to make an announcement. Yahoo, which is on the verge of sealing a deal with telecommunications group Verizon to buy the company, may be in danger of losing out as these data breaches may have “lessened its value.” Implications of the Breach Aside from its possible impact on the fate of Yahoo, the breach has far-reaching implications on its users. The report cited a former National Security Agency analyst, saying that even though a lot of the accounts in the data breach may have been inactive, it still has the information that criminals and spammers can use to phish for other important information. He further explained that, “In a phishing attack, a hacker often poses as a trusted contact and tries to induce the recipient of an email to click on a malicious link or share sensitive information.” RELATED STORIES: Yahoo Data Breach: How To Secure Your Email Account Featured Photo Source: Lorenzo Cafaro via Unsplash Like PilipinasPopcorn on Facebook for more updates. To send feedback or contribute your stories, email editor@pilipinaspopcorn.com. Facebook Comments
