Every Single Yahoo Account Was Hacked In 2013, All 3 Billion Of Them

Just when everyone thought that Yahoo’s reputation as an unsecured platform could not fall any lower, it was just revealed that all three billion accounts were hacked back in 2013. This is an increase of two billion from the initial estimates released by Verizon and raises new concerns. While it’s safe to say that most online users have moved on to newer platforms, there could still be some financial risks involved.

The new data was revealed by Verizon on Tuesday, October 3rd, which was apparently gained thanks to “new intelligence” from third-party forensic experts. These investigators looked into a particular incident that happened in August 2013, Rappler reports. For its part, Verizon noted that the incident was not new, but it was sending out notifications to affected accounts, anyway.

"The investigation indicates that the user account information that was stolen did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information. The company is continuing to work closely with law enforcement," Verizon said in a statement.

As data breaches go, this new disclosure might seem shocking, but it’s nowhere near as potentially damaging as the recent Equifax hack. Even so, anyone who still has an account on Yahoo with significant financial weight might want to either make some changes to their account details or switch to a more secure platform entirely.

Yahoo did note that the 2013 hacking incident did not involve the theft of password information in the form of text or payment card data, Reuters reports. However, security experts believe that these details were protected by an outdated encryption service that is shockingly easy to break.

As to whether or not this will affect Verizon’s payment price for the internet pioneer’s brand, the carrier refused to provide a comment. The same goes for potential lawsuits filed in light of this discovery.