4 Tips on How to Secure Your Yahoo Email Account

On the 15th of December 2016, Yahoo  disclosed a new data breach which she said to have occurred in the month of August 2013. The company says the attack affected around 1 Billion users and it’s separate from the attack reported in September 2016 – affecting around 500 million accounts in 2014.

 

The big internet giant Yahoo still believes it’s the work of state-sponsored hackers. They also believe that there’s some kind of connection to the 2014 hack, which the company has also pinned on a nation state. There may also be a link to stolen Yahoo code that reportedly allowed bad actors to forge cookies and access users’ accounts without even knowing their passwords according to Extreme Tech

After yahoo announcing the biggest email hack in history as of 2016, where over a Billion user accounts were affected, her users went around looking for ways to secure their accounts or for alternatives.

In this article, i will list down 4 tips on how to secure your yahoo email account.

Related: 2 Things to Know about 2015 Yahoo Security Breach

4 Tips on How to Secure Your Yahoo Email Account

1. Change Your Password and Security Questions and Answers

You can change your Yahoo password or security questions and answers. Yahoo requiries potentially affected users to change their passwords, and they invalidated unencrypted security questions and answers so that they cannot be used to access an account.

Use this link to change your password

2. Review All of Your Accounts for Suspicious Activity

Monitoring your recent login activity is important to keep your account safe. Be aware, there are some legitimate reasons why your history can show an unfamiliar location, like your mobile device picking up the wrong location or your Internet provider using a location proxy.

3. Be Cautious of Any Unsolicited Communications that Ask for Your Personal Information 

Please note that the emails from Yahoo about this issue will display the Yahoo  icon when viewed through the Yahoo website or Yahoo Mail app. Importantly, the emails do not ask you to click on any links or contain attachments and does not request your personal information. If an email you received about these issues prompts you to click on any links, download an attachment, or asks you for information, the email was not sent by Yahoo and may be an attempt to steal your personal information. Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from such suspicious emails.

4. Avoid Clicking on Links or Downloading Attachments from Suspicious Emails

Scammers are always looking for ways to get personal info with malicious intent. Know how to recognize legitimate Yahoo websites, requests, and communications to keep your account secure.

Checkout the statement about this from Yahoo

Additionally, please consider using Yahoo’s Account Key, a simple authentication tool that eliminates the need to use a password on Yahoo altogether.

 

Additional Steps

Although the affected account information did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information, we encourage you to remain vigilant by reviewing your account statements and monitoring your credit reports. Below is contact information for the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies from which you can obtain a credit report.

Equifax	Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc. P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374	1-800-525-6285	www.equifax.com
Experian	Experian Inc. P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013	1-888-397-3742	www.experian.com
TransUnion	TransUnion LLC P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022-2000	1-800-680-7289	www.transunion.com

To protect yourself from possible identity theft, consider placing a fraud alert on your credit file. You also may wish to place a “security freeze” (also known as a “credit freeze”) on your credit file. A security freeze is designed to prevent potential creditors from accessing your credit file at the consumer reporting agencies without your consent.

The consumer reporting agencies may require proper identification prior to honoring your request. For example, you may be asked to provide:

• Your full name with middle initial and generation (such as Jr., Sr., II, III)
• Your Social Security number (US Citizens)
• Your date of birth
• Addresses where you have lived over the past five years
• A legible copy of a government-issued identification card (such as a state driver’s license or military ID card)
• Proof of your current residential address (such as a current utility bill or account statement)

However, if you’re still not convinced that the suggestions indicated here have no go ahead, to do with your Yahoo account, it’s probably time to dump it. You many consider other options like ProtonMail, Outlook, Gmail, or any other third-party provider you like. This is our honest opinion, we don’t earn from any of the parties mentioned or listed here