Industry Report: Yahoo Gets Hacked, 500 Million Accounts At Risk

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A massive data breach at Yahoo, and IPFS prefers Ethereum over Bitcoin. Want to catch up on your latest digital currency and tech news? Take a gander at the stories below.

Also read: Industry Report: Poloniex Ditches NH, Santander Embraces Ethereum

YAHOO

Believing Yahoo to have been the victim of a massive 2014 hack, executives of the Internet and email giant sent out a notice last Thursday evening warning users of a potential data breach. Thus far, it appears up to 500 million users have been compromised, and the hack is believed to have stemmed from state-sponsored actors. Presently, the company is working with law enforcement agents to figure out just what happened.

Yahoo claims that private information, including email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, hashed passwords, security questions, and even bank account and credit card data may have been stolen.

Yahoo warns its clients:

“Be cautious of any unsolicited communications that ask for your personal information or refer you to a web page asking for personal information. Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails. Additionally, please consider using Yahoo Account Key, a simple authentication tool that eliminates the need to use a password altogether.”

The Yahoo team is also pushing users to encrypt passwords and other sensitive materials in the event a similar hack occurs in the near future.

IPFS

Blockchain-based peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol IPFS is launching its file system network with help from Ethereum, rather than bitcoin. The company designed its official electronic currency (known as Filecoin) back in 2014 and is now looking to put it to the test. While developed to operate via the bitcoin network, Ethereum was chosen in the end due to its “various innovative features” and highly developed and supportive community, which IPFS feels is one of Ethereum’s greatest assets.

Protocol Labs is the organization behind the creation and distribution of Filecoin and the IPFS.

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Image courtesy of Yahoo.

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