The US Justice Department has charged two Russian intelligence agents and two &quot;criminal hackers&quot;&nbsp;for hacking 500 million Yahoo accounts in one of the largest cyberattacks in history.

The indictment, unveiled by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said&nbsp;the hacking was used for espionage and financial gain, AFP reported.

Targets of the Yahoo breach included Russian and US government officials, including cyber security, diplomatic and military personnel,&nbsp;acting assistant attorney general Mary McCord told reporters. They also included journalists and employees of a prominent Russian cybersecurity company.

The US indictment includes 47 criminal charges including conspiracy, computer fraud, economic espionage, theft of trade secrets and identity theft.

The attack on Yahoo, disclosed last year, was one of the largest ever data breaches and at the time was blamed on a &quot;nation-state&quot; attacker.

Yahoo&#39;s assistant general counsel Chris Madsen said in a statement that the indictment &quot;unequivocally shows the attacks on Yahoo were state-sponsored,&quot;.

&quot;We are deeply grateful to the FBI for investigating these crimes and the DOJ for bringing charges against those responsible,&quot; he added.

DOJ officials said while announcing charges that members of the Russian intelligence agency FSB conspired with criminal hackers.&nbsp;

The Russian agents were identified as Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, both of whom were part of the FSB, the successor agency to Russia&#39;s KGB.&nbsp; 
 
Dokuchaev, an officer with the FSB Center for Information Security,&nbsp;is accused of directing the Yahoo hack along with his superior, the 43-year-old Sushchin.&nbsp;The FSB Center for Information Security is supposed to investigate hacking and is the FBI&#39;s point of contact in Moscow for cyber crimes.

The 33-year-old Dokuchaev was reported to have been arrested in Moscow earlier this year on treason charges.&nbsp;

The two officers &quot;protected, directed, facilitated and paid criminal hackers to collect information through computer intrusions in the United States and elsewhere,&quot; Mary McCord said.

They hired Alexsey Belan and Karim Baratov, described as &quot;criminal hackers,&quot; to carry out the attacks, which continued until late 2016.&nbsp;Belan, 29, has been indicted twice in US cases involving the hacking of e-commerce companies, and is listed as one of the FBI&#39;s &quot;Cyber Most Wanted criminals.&quot;&nbsp;Baratov, a Canadian national, was arrested this week on a US warrant in Canada.&nbsp;

McCord said the attack was directed at gathering information &quot;clearly some of which has intelligence value,&quot; but added that &quot;the criminal hackers used this to line their own pockets for private financial gain.&quot;

The hackers sought to cash in on the breach by accessing stolen credit or gift card numbers, and through a series of spam marketing schemes.

Links with US elections?

The indictments come amid a US investigation into claims of Russians cyberhacking the US elections, potentially help Donald Trump win the presidency.

Asked if there were any links between the Yahoo hack and the wider question of Russian interference, McCord said, &quot;We don&#39;t have anything that suggests... any relationship,&quot; adding that the election case &quot;is an ongoing investigation.&quot;

&quot;Today we continue to pierce the veil of anonymity surrounding cyber crimes,&quot; said FBI director James Comey. &quot;We are shrinking the world to ensure that cyber criminals think twice before targeting US persons and interests.&quot;

FBI executive assistant director Paul Abbate said the agency has asked Moscow for assistance in apprehending the suspects. He qualified that &quot;we have had limited cooperation with that element of the Russian government.&quot;

Targets of the hackers

The US statement said some targets were &quot;of predictable interest&quot; to the Russian spy agency including Russian and US government officials and employees of a prominent Russian cybersecurity company.

The hackers also&nbsp;targeted Russian journalists,&nbsp;numerous employees of other providers whose networks the conspirators sought to exploit,&nbsp;and employees of financial services and other commercial entities.

Other accounts compromised belonged to employees of commercial entities, such as a Russian investment banking firm, a French transportation company, US financial services and private equity firms, a Swiss bitcoin wallet and banking firm and a US airline, according to the Justice Department.McCord said.

(WION)

The hacking was directed at Russian and US government officials, including security, diplomatic and military personnel, officials said

The US Justice Department has charged two Russian intelligence agents and two "criminal hackers" for hacking 500 million Yahoo accounts in one of the largest cyberattacks in history. The indictment, unveiled by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said the hacking was used for espionage and financial gain, AFP reported. Targets of the Yahoo breach included Russian and US government officials, including cyber security, diplomatic and military personnel, acting assistant attorney general Mary McCord told reporters. They also included journalists and employees of a prominent Russian cybersecurity company. The US indictment includes 47 criminal charges including conspiracy, computer fraud, economic espionage, theft of trade secrets and identity theft. The attack on Yahoo, disclosed last year, was one of the largest ever data breaches and at the time was blamed on a "nation-state" attacker. Yahoo's assistant general counsel Chris Madsen said in a statement that the indictment "unequivocally shows the attacks on Yahoo were state-sponsored,". "We are deeply grateful to the FBI for investigating these crimes and the DOJ for bringing charges against those responsible," he added. DOJ officials said while announcing charges that members of the Russian intelligence agency FSB conspired with criminal hackers. The Russian agents were identified as Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, both of whom were part of the FSB, the successor agency to Russia's KGB. Dokuchaev, an officer with the FSB Center for Information Security, is accused of directing the Yahoo hack along with his superior, the 43-year-old Sushchin. The FSB Center for Information Security is supposed to investigate hacking and is the FBI's point of contact in Moscow for cyber crimes. The 33-year-old Dokuchaev was reported to have been arrested in Moscow earlier this year on treason charges. The two officers "protected, directed, facilitated and paid criminal hackers to collect information through computer intrusions in the United States and elsewhere," Mary McCord said. They hired Alexsey Belan and Karim Baratov, described as "criminal hackers," to carry out the attacks, which continued until late 2016. Belan, 29, has been indicted twice in US cases involving the hacking of e-commerce companies, and is listed as one of the FBI's "Cyber Most Wanted criminals." Baratov, a Canadian national, was arrested this week on a US warrant in Canada. McCord said the attack was directed at gathering information "clearly some of which has intelligence value," but added that "the criminal hackers used this to line their own pockets for private financial gain." The hackers sought to cash in on the breach by accessing stolen credit or gift card numbers, and through a series of spam marketing schemes. Links with US elections? The indictments come amid a US investigation into claims of Russians cyberhacking the US elections, potentially help Donald Trump win the presidency. Asked if there were any links between the Yahoo hack and the wider question of Russian interference, McCord said, "We don't have anything that suggests... any relationship," adding that the election case "is an ongoing investigation." "Today we continue to pierce the veil of anonymity surrounding cyber crimes," said FBI director James Comey. "We are shrinking the world to ensure that cyber criminals think twice before targeting US persons and interests." FBI executive assistant director Paul Abbate said the agency has asked Moscow for assistance in apprehending the suspects. He qualified that "we have had limited cooperation with that element of the Russian government." Targets of the hackers The US statement said some targets were "of predictable interest" to the Russian spy agency including Russian and US government officials and employees of a prominent Russian cybersecurity company. The hackers also targeted Russian journalists, numerous employees of other providers whose networks the conspirators sought to exploit, and employees of financial services and other commercial entities. Other accounts compromised belonged to employees of commercial entities, such as a Russian investment banking firm, a French transportation company, US financial services and private equity firms, a Swiss bitcoin wallet and banking firm and a US airline, according to the Justice Department.McCord said. (WION)

US Justice Department charges two Russian spies for hacking Yahoo accounts

Yahoo said Wednesday personal data from over a billion users was stolen in a hack dating back to 2013 -- twice as big as another breach disclosed just three months ago.

In a huge blow to the struggling internet pioneer, Yahoo said it made the discovery as it was investigating what was already the largest data breach of a single company.&nbsp;

&quot;Yahoo believes an unauthorized third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with more than one billion user accounts,&quot; it said in a statement.&nbsp;

Yahoo said this case &quot;is likely distinct from the incident the company disclosed on September 22, 2016&quot; affecting 500 million users.

The news poses a fresh threat to Yahoo&#39;s deal to sell its core operating assets to Verizon for $4.8 billion.

In November, Yahoo disclosed that as part of its investigation into the prior breach, it had received data files from law enforcement &quot;that a third party claimed was Yahoo user data.&quot;

Source of hack unclear&nbsp;

Using outside forensic experts, Yahoo now confirms that this was indeed user data but added that it &quot;has not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft.&quot;&nbsp;

The statement added that &quot;Yahoo has taken steps to secure user accounts and is working closely with law enforcement.&quot;

Yahoo&#39;s chief security officer Bob Lord said in a blog post that some of the intrusions were done by hackers who accessed accounts without a password by using &quot;forged cookies,&quot; or data files which verify a device or user.

&quot;We believe an unauthorized third party accessed our proprietary code to learn how to forge cookies,&quot; he said, adding that &quot;we have connected some of this activity to the same state-sponsored actor believed to be responsible for the data theft the company disclosed on September 22.&quot;

Yahoo also said it was requiring affected users to change their passwords, and had invalidated unencrypted security questions and answers.

Yahoo said in September it believed the breach of information on 500 million users was &quot;state sponsored&quot; but some analysts have questioned this theory.

The stolen user account information in the newly disclosed breach may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, &quot;hashed&quot; passwords and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers, Yahoo said.

The hackers did not obtain passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information, it said.

The latest breach discovery is a further embarrassment to a company that was one of the biggest names of the internet but which has failed to keep up with rising stars such as Google and Facebook.

Not just technology

Steve Grobman, chief technical officer at Intel Security, said the two incidents show &quot;there were clear weaknesses in the architecture&quot; used by Yahoo but that such hacks are not just about technology.

Large organizations holding vast amounts of user data, Grobman said, &quot;need to rely not just on technology but use independent or internal resources to defend against attack scenarios.&quot;

Grobman said Yahoo can recover from the debacle but that &quot;it needs to be transparent and show that it will emerge with the best security.&quot;

Patrick Moorhead, analyst at Moor Insights &amp; Strategy, said it is possible the disclosure will kill the tie-up with Verizon.

&quot;In the end it will be determined by how Yahoo customers react and what Verizon thinks about this,&quot; Moorhead said.

&quot;I don&#39;t think Yahoo is worth nearly as much as it was before these two breaches because they can no longer be trusted. Yahoo can build back trust but it will take investment and focus.&quot;

Yahoo, after a series of reorganizations, decided late last year to sell its main operating business as a way to separate that from its more valuable stake in Chinese internet giant Alibaba.

Yahoo&#39;s plan would place its main operating business within Verizon, which has already acquired another faded internet star, AOL.

The remaining portion would be a holding company with stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.

Verizon said in a statement late Wednesday that it would await further news of the investigation before making any decision.

&quot;As we&rsquo;ve said all along, we will evaluate the situation as Yahoo continues its investigation,&quot; the statement said.

&quot;We will review the impact of this new development before reaching any final conclusions.&quot;

Verizon had said the prior breach was likely &quot;material,&quot; meaning it could allow the telecom giant to scrap the deal or lower its offer.

Yahoo&#39;s valuation hit $125 billion during the dot-com boom, but it has been losing ground since then despite several efforts to reboot.

In the mid-1990s, Yahoo was among the most popular destinations on the internet, helping many people navigate the emerging web.

It became the top online &quot;portal,&quot; connecting users to news, music and other content. But its fortunes started to fade when Google began to dominate with its powerful search engine.

(AFP)

Yahoo made the discovery while it was investigating another hack. The earlier hack was already the largest of a single company

Yahoo said Wednesday personal data from over a billion users was stolen in a hack dating back to 2013 -- twice as big as another breach disclosed just three months ago. In a huge blow to the struggling internet pioneer, Yahoo said it made the discovery as it was investigating what was already the largest data breach of a single company. "Yahoo believes an unauthorized third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with more than one billion user accounts," it said in a statement. Yahoo said this case "is likely distinct from the incident the company disclosed on September 22, 2016" affecting 500 million users. The news poses a fresh threat to Yahoo's deal to sell its core operating assets to Verizon for $4.8 billion. In November, Yahoo disclosed that as part of its investigation into the prior breach, it had received data files from law enforcement "that a third party claimed was Yahoo user data." Source of hack unclear Using outside forensic experts, Yahoo now confirms that this was indeed user data but added that it "has not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft." The statement added that "Yahoo has taken steps to secure user accounts and is working closely with law enforcement." Yahoo's chief security officer Bob Lord said in a blog post that some of the intrusions were done by hackers who accessed accounts without a password by using "forged cookies," or data files which verify a device or user. "We believe an unauthorized third party accessed our proprietary code to learn how to forge cookies," he said, adding that "we have connected some of this activity to the same state-sponsored actor believed to be responsible for the data theft the company disclosed on September 22." Yahoo also said it was requiring affected users to change their passwords, and had invalidated unencrypted security questions and answers. Yahoo said in September it believed the breach of information on 500 million users was "state sponsored" but some analysts have questioned this theory. The stolen user account information in the newly disclosed breach may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, "hashed" passwords and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers, Yahoo said. The hackers did not obtain passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information, it said. The latest breach discovery is a further embarrassment to a company that was one of the biggest names of the internet but which has failed to keep up with rising stars such as Google and Facebook. Not just technology Steve Grobman, chief technical officer at Intel Security, said the two incidents show "there were clear weaknesses in the architecture" used by Yahoo but that such hacks are not just about technology. Large organizations holding vast amounts of user data, Grobman said, "need to rely not just on technology but use independent or internal resources to defend against attack scenarios." Grobman said Yahoo can recover from the debacle but that "it needs to be transparent and show that it will emerge with the best security." Patrick Moorhead, analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said it is possible the disclosure will kill the tie-up with Verizon. "In the end it will be determined by how Yahoo customers react and what Verizon thinks about this," Moorhead said. "I don't think Yahoo is worth nearly as much as it was before these two breaches because they can no longer be trusted. Yahoo can build back trust but it will take investment and focus." Yahoo, after a series of reorganizations, decided late last year to sell its main operating business as a way to separate that from its more valuable stake in Chinese internet giant Alibaba. Yahoo's plan would place its main operating business within Verizon, which has already acquired another faded internet star, AOL. The remaining portion would be a holding company with stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. Verizon said in a statement late Wednesday that it would await further news of the investigation before making any decision. "As we’ve said all along, we will evaluate the situation as Yahoo continues its investigation," the statement said. "We will review the impact of this new development before reaching any final conclusions." Verizon had said the prior breach was likely "material," meaning it could allow the telecom giant to scrap the deal or lower its offer. Yahoo's valuation hit $125 billion during the dot-com boom, but it has been losing ground since then despite several efforts to reboot. In the mid-1990s, Yahoo was among the most popular destinations on the internet, helping many people navigate the emerging web. It became the top online "portal," connecting users to news, music and other content. But its fortunes started to fade when Google began to dominate with its powerful search engine. (AFP)

Yahoo says personal data of 1 bn users stolen in 2013 hack

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US Justice Department charges two Russian spies for hacking Yahoo accounts

Yahoo says personal data of 1 bn users stolen in 2013 hack