Full Notification

On September 22, 2016, Yahoo announced and later confirmed that 500 million email accounts had been hacked back to 2014. Here are some things you can do immediately and if you have a business and keep or receive information about your business there also, you also need to take additional steps:

1. Change your password immediately. Make it complicated and mix it up.

2. If you have information on how to access other email accounts, work related information on how to access other web based information, change that also and monitor any changes.

3. Review any messages you had that contained sensitive information and delete and/or move to a more secured place.

4. If you had in your email box information about bank accounts and credit cards, you also want to make changes to access that.

5. While you may be happy with yahoo email, once it is compromised, criminals have many ways to try to find other places that have been hacked and that email was used. It is recommended that you spend some time learning about new security measures with Yahoo.  

6. If you use the same passwords and security questions for everything you do including at times your banking, you must change all of that.

7. If you remain with Yahoo email, research their upgrades and more secure processes including their “Account Key.” Also remember that many times people have the email in mobile devices and all of these need to be considered when you make changes and make these devices more secured.

8. If you know anyone in your family who may lack the skills necessary to do all this, you may want to help them out. Identity theft and draining of bank accounts plus many other challenges including blackmail have been reported on email hacks. So protect yourself and your loved ones.

People may hesitate to make any changes thinking that they have not suffered any loss yet and that they don't need to make a change. Well that is actually wrong! Criminals buy the information online and if they find some information they need to access other accounts or if you use the same passwords, etc. they may actually hit a jackpot and you may find yourself with a zero balance in your bank accounts.