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"A breach of this size is almost unfathomable - even disregarding the fact this is the second massive breach disclosure from Yahoo in a matter of months. There’s clearly been some historic security failings at the company and they are now paying the price. We’re living in an era where any data held online is inherently insecure and if it the right controls aren’t in place, someone will steal it. While the numbers impacted in this case are massive, Yahoo isn’t the first and won’t be the last unless businesses do better at protecting the information they hold.

"While one would hope that most Yahoo account holders changed their passwords earlier in the year, relying on that as a method of dealing with lost details can’t go on much longer. It should have become clear to almost everyone that the password / username method is broken and to stop events like this we need a new system in place. The tools, like multi-factor authentication, already exist, we now need to force their use and make it harder for hackers to get what they want. This situation will carry on repeating itself until we make a change."