{"id":32984,"date":"2014-02-03T07:00:51","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=32984"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:44:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T17:44:43","slug":"yahoo-mail-hacked-secure-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/yahoo-mail-hacked-secure-account\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Secure Your Yahoo! Mail Account"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, Yahoo! announced on their blog<\/a> that the email accounts for an unspecified number of users had been compromised by hackers. They also echoed a sentiment frequently found on this blog, that \u201csecurity attacks are unfortunately becoming a more regular occurrence.\u201d Below are some details about the latest Yahoo! cyber attack, as well as several measures you can take to help secure your email account.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, as this hack is still under investigation, the information available is limited. We do know that there is no proof to imply a vulnerability in Yahoo! security processes at this time. Yahoo! has instead suggested that it was an unnamed third-party database that cybercriminals were able to hack into in order to access a trove of usernames and passwords.<\/p>\n

They haven\u2019t released information about what third-party this may have been, but anytime you choose to login to an app or website with your Yahoo! account, that database receives your email address and password. Those who have chosen to connect in this manner in the past may be at higher risk for hacking.<\/p>\n

Yahoo! has stated that the hackers appear to have been seeking the names and email addresses from messages recently sent by the accounts that they hacked into. Cybercriminals were likely after this information so that they could send additional emails from the hacked accounts to these unsuspecting victims, with the intent to spread malware<\/a> or other malicious computer viruses. There is no information from Yahoo! on whether or not the criminals were able to achieve this goal.<\/p>\n

With 273 million accounts<\/a>, Yahoo! mail is the second largest email provider in the world (behind Google\u2019s Gmail) and a cyber attack is not something that should be taken lightly. Luckily, Yahoo! appears to be taking appropriate measures to secure affected user accounts. In addition to alerting users via text message and resetting passwords on impacted accounts, Yahoo! has turned on two-factor authentication <\/a>to allow users to re-secure their accounts\u2014for the time being. The company has also stated that they\u2019ve implemented additional measures<\/a> to block attacks against their systems.<\/p>\n

Tips to Reduce the Impact of Malware Attacks<\/h2>\n

Yahoo! is taking a number of steps to help impacted users regain secure access to their accounts, but that doesn\u2019t mean you should sit idly by and wait for the next attack to hit. Follow the steps below to help reduce the impact of this attack and avoid becoming a victim in the future:<\/p>\n