Yahoo has confirmed a massive theft of the Yahoo user accounts information that occurred in late 2014. More than half a billion Yahoo users are affected with this hack which is being called the largest internet theft known till date. Yahoo is saying that this hack was sponsored by a state actor and that the users should update their passwords and tighten the security of their Yahoo accounts. If you are using Yahoo Mail or some other Yahoo services regularly, then you should change your account password and enable Yahoo Account Key. You can do this easily using the Yahoo Mail app for Android or iPhone. Here is how:
Change Yahoo Account Password
Note: This is not necessary if you are going to use Yahoo Account Key. But do not leave any loopholes, update your Yahoo password with a really strong one.
- Use any web browser in your desktop/notebook computer and browse to https://login.yahoo.com/account/security. You will be required to sign-in and will be asked to change the password on the login screen itself.
- Use our PassGen utility to generate a strong password containing numerals, special characters and mixed case letters. The password should be at least 12 characters long.
- Use the generated password to change the Yahoo account password. In addition, also make sure that your Yahoo account’s recovery information is up-to-date so that in case you forget the password, you can recover your account without much hassle.
Enable Yahoo Account Key
- Install Yahoo Mail app in your smartphone. The app is available both for Android phones and iPhone.
- Login to this Yahoo Mail app and then open the app settings. On the settings screen, choose Manage accounts and then tap on Account Key for your Yahoo account.
- The app will show you some information about the account key feature. You can tap on Setup Account Key and then Enable Account Key after making sure that your mobile phone number is up-to-date.
- Next time you try to sign-in to your Yahoo account from any device, your mobile phone will get a notification and you will have to tap on Yes to proceed with the login. You will not require any passwords anymore.
Enabling Yahoo Account Key is very easy and makes the older method of signing in using passwords completely obsolete. After you have enabled Yahoo account then even if a hacker steals your Yahoo login credentials, they won’t be able to login using that stolen data.