Russians Charged By The US For Stealing Over 500M Yahoo User Info

Yahoo is the current record-holder for the most devastating hacking incident that allowed over 500 million user information to be stolen by the perpetrators. While the crime resulted in Yahoo becoming a less viable option as an asset for Verizon, the company can at least take solace in the fact that the US government is now acting on its behalf. Two intelligence agents from Russia, as well as two known hackers, have just been charged with a criminal offense.

By actually filing criminal charges against the Russian agents and hackers, the US just committed a historic act. This is the first time that Russian spies have ever been charged in the country, Reuters reports.

Of course, no one believes that this is just about the Yahoo hack, no matter how serious of a data breach that was. With pretty much everyone in the intelligence community saying that Russia interfered during the 2016 Presidential elections, it’s only natural that the Justice Department would be going after blood.

On top of that, with President Donald Trump’s reported ties to Russia, this case is also considered a powder keg of an issue. This hasn’t fazed Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord, however, as she provided details about the case.

"The criminal conduct at issue, carried out and otherwise facilitated by officers from an FSB unit that serves as the FBI’s point of contact in Moscow on cyber crime matters, is beyond the pale,” McCord said.

Although no concrete evidence on how the Yahoo hack might have been connected to the 2016 Presidential election scandal has been found, it is clear that the hackers used some of the details they stole to use credit card and even gift card information, The New York Times reports. With 47 counts of criminal charges laid against the spies and the hackers, perhaps the US government can finally get some answers to some important questions.