Yahoo! recently disclosed a massive data breach affecting approximately 500 million email accounts that occurred in late 2014.
“Major data breaches remind us that we must do our part and be vigilant in protecting our personal online information,” Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), said. “An easy first step for everyone to better secure all email, social media and financial accounts, is to make use of available security tools such as multi-factor and strong authentication that provide an additional layer of protection. Email accounts in particular are extremely important to protect as once breached, hackers can use them to reset passwords and break into other accounts, steal identities, target contacts and put an individual’s data and reputation at risk.”
The NCSA said that all Yahoo! users should take action now to secure their accounts by utilizing the company’s free two-factor authentication service.
In the wake of the cyber breach, the NCSA recommends that users take a few steps to secure their online accounts, including utilizing two-step authentication services, making better passwords, cleaning all machines, monitoring activity of financial and credit card accounts, and deleting any suspicious emails or posts.
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which the NCSA uses to promote proactive steps to protect online information from cyber hacks.