UPDATED 00:46 EDT / OCTOBER 04 2017

APPS

How to secure or delete your Yahoo account

If you’re a registered Yahoo user, it’s now pretty much a sure bet you account was hacked in the data breach of 2013 that was revealed last year.

Because the hack exposed details like names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, encrypted passwords and unencrypted security questions, it is important that you either properly secure your Yahoo account or delete it completely if it isn’t your regular account.

Many users have a Yahoo account, but don’t use it regularly. Yahoo Mail, for instance, has only 225 million monthly active users.

Here’s a look at how you can secure your account if you use it regularly or delete it if you don’t:

How to secure your Yahoo account

Change your password and security questions

Yahoo advised all users who hadn’t changed their passwords since the August 2013 hack to do so. You will receive notification soon if you weren’t one of the initial 1 billion users. Although the company says the stolen passwords were encrypted, it is possible for hackers to break the encryption if they are persistent.  

To change your password, go to Yahoo on your personal computer or mobile device > Account security page > click “Change password” > enter and confirm your new password > click Continue.

Answers to security questions that were taken during the hack were not encrypted. Yahoo allows you to remove security questions from your account and rather use an alternative email address or mobile number as an additional security measure. If you recently updated your email or phone number, then you security questions could already have been removed.

To remove your security questions, go to Account Settings > Account security > Disable security questions > on the page with your security questions, click “Yes, secure my account” > click Continue.

To add an alternative recovery option, go to Account security > click Email addresses or Phone numbers > click Add recovery [email address] [phone number] > follow the on-screen prompts.

Update others sites

Despite all the advice against doing it, plenty of people will use the same password and security questions across multiple sites. If you have used the same Yahoo password or security questions on other sites, then you will need to go change your password and security questions across all these sites too.

Two-step verification

Two-step verification will provide an additional layer of security to your Yahoo Mail. Once logging in with your password, Yahoo will text you a security code that you will need to enter to access your mail.

To set up two-step verification, sign into Yahoo > go to the Account security page > toggle the button next to “Two-step verification” to enable the feature > enter your mobile number > click either “Send SMS” to receive a code via text or “Call Me” to receive the code via a phone call > enter the verification code and click Verify.

You will need to verify your identity with two-step verification verify when you sign in to your account on a new, unrecognized device for the first time or after clearing the cache in your browser.

How to delete your Yahoo account

If you created a Yahoo account years ago and don’t use it as your main email account, the company may have already deactivated it if it has been inactive for more than a year.

If your account is still active, but the hack has prompted you to delete it, you can follow the instructions below.

Note: If you use Flickr, when you delete your Yahoo account you will also lose access to your photos in Flickr.

Yahoo doesn’t offer a tool to export your data, so if you will need to save any important emails, contacts and attachments manually before closing your account. You will also need to download all your photos from Flickr and upload them to another cloud platform, such as Google Photos.

To close your Yahoo account, sign into the account termination page with your Yahoo ID > read the info and click Continue > confirm your identity and click “Yes, terminate this account.”

Source: Yahoo Help

Image: Luis Villa del Campo; Flickr

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