Russian Hackers Charged in Massive Yahoo Breach

The United States has announced charges against two Russian security services officers and two hackers, accusing them of a mega data breach at Yahoo that affected at least a half billion user accounts.

Officials say the hack targeted the email accounts of Russian and U.S. officials, Russian journalists, employees of financial services and other businesses.

The charges arise from a compromise of Yahoo user accounts that began at least as early as 2014.

Though the Justice Department has previously charged Russian hackers with cybercrime – as well as hackers sponsored by the Chinese and Iranian governments – this is the first criminal case brought against Russian government officials.

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