Users ditch Yahoo as cyber breach reverberates online

MANY Yahoo users have rushed to close their accounts and change passwords as experts warned that the fallout from one of the largest cyber breaches in history could spill beyond the internet company’s services.

After Yahoo disclosed on Thursday that hackers had stolen the encrypted passwords and personal details of more than 500 million accounts in 2014, thousands of users took to social media to express anger that it had taken the company two years to uncover the breach. Several said they were closing their accounts.

“We’re probably just going to dump Yahoo altogether,” said Rick Hollister, who owns a private investigation firm in Tallahassee, Florida. “They should have been more on top of this.”

Due to the scale of the breach, and because users often recycle passwords and security answers across multiple services, security experts warned the impact of the hack could reverberate throughout the internet.

Several users said they were scrambling to change log-in information, not just for Yahoo but for multiple internet accounts with the same passwords. Accounts at banks, retailers and elsewhere could be vulnerable.

“I suppose a hacker could make the connection between my Yahoo and Gmail,” said Scott Braun, who created a Yahoo e-mail account while setting up a shop on online retailer Etsy. “They both use my first and last name.”

The concern was echoed in Washington. “The seriousness of this breach at Yahoo is huge,” Democratic Senator Mark Warner said.

Yahoo urged users to change their passwords and security questions, but some said it would be easier just to give up their accounts. —