Yahoo usernames and passwords have been stolen again as Yahoo gets hacked for the second time in two months.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company stated in its blog post that it is resetting passwords of Yahoo mail users and has "implemented additional measures" to avoid further security breach. It also clarified that the details were not directly taken from its systems, but through a third-party database.
"The information sought in the attack seems to be names and email addresses from the affected accounts' most recent sent emails," wrote Yahoo SVP for Platforms and Personalization Products Jay Rossiter in a blog post.
Hackers are most likely in the search for additional addresses mainly from the affected accounts' most recent mails. By using real names from the sent folder, spam messages would appear legitimate to receivers. That could eventually lead to a greater danger involving bank transactions and unpermitted purchases using the user's payment cards.
The company didn't disclose the exact number of accounts hacked, but with the number of people using Yahoo Mail, the list could surely go a long way. Yahoo has 273 million registered accounts around the globe. Eighty-one million of these are from the United States.
Gartner security analyst Avivah Litan told SFGate, "It's an old trend, but it's much more exaggerated now because the programs the bad guys use are much more sophisticated now. We're clearly under attack."
Litan added that these cyber attackers appear to be "trying to collect as much information as they can on people. Putting all this stuff together makes it easier to steal somebody's identity."
Early this year, Yahoo has suffered from a malware attack causing malicious advertisements showing on the screens of 27,000 users per hour.
