Locals weigh in on Yahoo security breach

CLOVIS — The aftermath of the Yahoo disclosure of a breach impacting in excess of a billion user accounts has resulted in varied reactions among professionals within the cyber security field and consumers.

The New Mexico Technology Council (NMTC) is a member-driven association comprised of businesses, organizations and tech professionals working to promote the growth and success of New Mexico’s technology business sectors.

NMTC officials said the technology community is the catalyst for inspiration and leadership that transforms New Mexico into a world center for business innovation, creative thinking, community involvement and educational support. Ryan Woodard is a NMTC member working within the organization’s Cyber Security section.

“It was kind of an eye roll,” Woodard said in referencing what the breach meant to him as a cyber security professional. “They (Yahoo) have sort of had the school of hard knocks regarding cyber security management. If you grow big enough, you will be targeted — but that’s why you hire best and brightest. It appears what they (hackers) got was general mailing list stuff while I understand hashing secured the passwords that were accessed. But If they were able to get that far, they know what they’re doing.”

Clovis resident Richard O’Brien said he would continue to use his Yahoo account but was disappointed the data security issue occurred for a second time.

“I have one (an account), but I’m not heavily invested in using it when it comes to revealing confidential information,” he said. “It’s mainly surface stuff. But the breaches have now happened twice, so who is to say there won’t be a third. I understand things happen, but it makes you wonder.”

The disclosure has spurred Clovis resident Joseph Maddox to reconsider alternatives.

“I’m going to phase out Yahoo,” he said. “Everybody is vulnerable, even the giants of the industry. But there are other choices out there and I’ll explore them. Dealing with cyberspace is always a challenge, but in these days and times it’s almost a necessity. I’ll weigh the pros and cons and go from there.”

Woodard said there are options available to consumers as a means of providing extra protection from attempted cyber intrusions.

“There are certain password management solutions,” he said. “A lot of people use one or two variances of a password. Lastpass.com is very popular. There’s a single password and the cool thing is it renews your passwords. But, if you forget the password, it’s not retrievable. It’s good but I don’t like to put all of my eggs in one basket.”

He said the important element for consumers to remember is to not use the same password for multiple log-ins.