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Millions of Yahoo Accounts Pop Up for Sale on the Dark Web

The accounts appear to be from 2012; Yahoo said it is investigating.

 & Tom Brant Managing Editor

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Yahoo is investigating a potential security breach, a day after 200 million Yahoo user accounts reportedly showed up for sale on the dark web.

A hacker linked to breaches of LinkedIn and MySpace databases posted the Yahoo information on a marketplace called The Real Deal, Motherboard reported yesterday.

It's unclear if the Yahoo login credentials came from a stolen company database or were obtained though some other hacking method. A Yahoo spokesperson told Motherboard that the company was aware of the credentials being stolen online, but did not confirm whether Yahoo itself was hacked.

The company said today that it is still investigating the potential security breach, according to BBC News. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

Many of the accounts appear to be disabled or otherwise inactive. Motherboard attempted to contact more than 100 email addresses from the database, and many of its queries came back as "undeliverable." The hacker who posted the data told Motherboard that the addresses were most likely from 2012.

This is not Yahoo's first security issue. In 2012, a breach exposed 453,000 passwords, while a 2014 breach involved what the company described as a "coordinated effort" to gain access to Yahoo email accounts. In May, the US House of Representatives blocked Yahoo access on its network over concerns that it was a target for hackers.

Yahoo sought to reassure its customers today, telling BBC News that it "works hard to keep our users safe, and we always encourage our users to create strong passwords, or give up passwords altogether by using Yahoo Account Key, and use different passwords for different platforms."

About Our Expert

Tom Brant

Tom Brant

Managing Editor

I’m a managing editor at PCMag.com focused on PC hardware. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of Wi-Fi routers, printers, laptops, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I've covered most major consumer tech events, including CES, Computex, Google I/O, and IFA. I've also appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rainforests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

The Technology I Use

While most people buy a phone or laptop and stick with it for years, I’m lucky enough to use devices based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows daily as part of my job. As a result, I cycle through lots of tech in addition to my IT-issue work laptop. (Yes, that's a ThinkPad.) Personally, I’ve also owned a lot of tech products both cutting-edge and cringeworthy, from the Nintendo GameCube and the original MacBook to the Palm m105 and the CueCat.

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