Possible Breach At Yahoo

Just as Yahoo’s sale to Verizon is pending, news of a possible, massive data breach is hitting. Earlier this summer, Yahoo had said it was investigating a data breach and now hackers are claiming to have access to 200 million user accounts and are selling them online. Tim Erlin, Senior Director of IT Security and Risk Strategy at Tripwire commented below.

Tim Erlin, Senior Director of IT Security and Risk Strategy at Tripwire:

 “It can be difficult for the average consumer to understand why this type of personal data is valuable to criminals, especially since the initial reports rarely go deeper than the price the initial attacker can get for such records. Personal information, like names, email addresses and birth dates, are most often used for either phishing campaigns or identity theft. Regulators should be concerned with who will take responsibility for the response to this compromise. It can be easy for the ‘right thing to do’ to slip through the cracks in a multi-billion dollar transition. If consumers had been lulled into a sense of complacency because we haven’t seen a massive breach in a while, this should be a wake-up call.”