---
title: How Yahoo's Latest Hack Affects You
description: Yahoo's latest hack was announced after the company discovered cyber attackers created "forged cookies" to access accounts.
authors:
  - name: Aric Jenkins
    url: https://money.com/author/aric-jenkins/
    at_money_since: 2017
    articles: 48
    covers:
      - Technology
      - Banking
      - Business
      - Career Advice
      - Credit Cards
      - Economy and Politics
      - Education
      - Housing
      - Identity Theft
      - Lifestyle
      - Shopping
      - Taxes
    social:
      - https://x.com/aricwithan_a
    former_staff: true
published: '2017-02-16T16:09:46.000Z'
modified: '2024-05-16T12:14:01.000Z'
section: Technology
tags:
  - onetime
  - yahoo
word_count: 173
canonical: https://money.com/yahoo-forged-cookies-hack-2017/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

> **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/).

![Company Signs](https://img.money.com/2017/02/yahoo-cookies-hack.jpg)
*Yahoo corporate offices and headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.*

Yahoo is at the center of another hacking incident — its third since 2013 — after the company discovered cyber attackers created "forged cookies" that can access user accounts without their login information. Yahoo [told the *Guardian*](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/15/yahoo-hack-warning-user-data-2015-2016) that the forged cookies have been "invalidated" and cannot be used again, but the potentially malicious activity could still have implications for already-affected users.

Affected users are at risk of [financial or identity fraud](https://money.com/credit-card-fraud-us/). Credit card information and personal details could be accessible through breached accounts.

Compromised accounts should have received an email from Bob Lord, Yahoo's chief information security officer, warning of the data security issue. The company said that almost every affected user had been notified as of Wednesday, but that investigations are still ongoing, the *Guardian* reports.

The number of affected users remains unknown. All Yahoo account owners should check to see if they've received Lord's email, which includes security recommendations for protecting accounts going forward. An affected account should be reviewed for suspicious activity and users should avoid responding to unsolicited messages.

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
      "@id": "https://money.com/yahoo-forged-cookies-hack-2017/#breadcrumb",
      "itemListElement": [
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Home",
          "item": "https://money.com"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Technology",
          "item": "https://money.com/technology/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Data",
          "item": "https://money.com/data/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "How Yahoo's Latest Hack Affects You"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "https://money.com/#website",
      "url": "https://money.com",
      "name": "Money",
      "publisher": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#organization"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://money.com/yahoo-forged-cookies-hack-2017/#webpage",
      "url": "https://money.com/yahoo-forged-cookies-hack-2017/",
      "name": "How Yahoo's Latest Hack Affects You",
      "isPartOf": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#website"
      },
      "datePublished": "2017-02-16T16:09:46.000Z",
      "mainEntity": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/yahoo-forged-cookies-hack-2017/"
      },
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "breadcrumb": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/yahoo-forged-cookies-hack-2017/#breadcrumb"
      },
      "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:14:01.000Z"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "How Yahoo's Latest Hack Affects You",
      "articleSection": "Technology",
      "image": [
        {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/02/yahoo-cookies-hack.jpg",
          "width": 2560,
          "height": 1707,
          "caption": "Company Signs"
        }
      ],
      "author": [
        {
          "@type": "Person",
          "name": "Aric Jenkins",
          "url": "https://money.com/author/aric-jenkins/",
          "@id": "https://money.com/author/aric-jenkins/#author",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://x.com/aricwithan_a"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization",
      "datePublished": "2017-02-16T16:09:46.000Z",
      "description": "Yahoo's latest hack was announced after the company discovered cyber attackers created \"forged cookies\" to access accounts.",
      "abstract": "Yahoo's latest hack was announced after the company discovered cyber attackers created \"forged cookies\" to access accounts.",
      "@id": "https://money.com/yahoo-forged-cookies-hack-2017/",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "dateModified": "2024-05-16T12:14:01.000Z",
      "wordCount": 173,
      "keywords": [
        "onetime",
        "yahoo"
      ],
      "about": [
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Technology",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology"
          ]
        },
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Data",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```