Rumor: Yahoo has been scanning emails for US intelligence agencies (Updated)
According to an incriminating report by Reuters, Yahoo has built software that scans its users’ emails for the US intelligence services. The company complied with several intelligence agencies’ request for scanning all incoming emails.
(Image source: Yahoo)
Updated on 06 Oct 2016, 02:00pm : Yahoo Inc. has denied the existence of the email scanning software that was allegedly use to scan its customers' incoming emails for US intelligence services. According to Bloomberg, Yahoo said that the Reuter article was "misleading" and the company "narrowly interprets every government request for user data to minimize disclosure."
Originally published on 06 Oct 2016, 11:30am
According to an incriminating report by Reuters, Yahoo has built software that scans its users’ emails for the US intelligence services. The company complied with several intelligence agencies’ request for scanning all incoming emails.
The software tool searched hundreds of millions of incoming emails, according to security experts interviewed by Reuters, they said this is the first instance of a US-based tech company that agreed to an agency’s request to search all incoming messages, instead of cherry picking suspect ones.
Reuters reported Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer’s agreeing to this directive angers some senior Yahoo executives, and resulted in the resignation of former Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos. Just last month, Yahoo confirmed that information from 500 million accounts (half a billion!) was stolen in late 2014 by what it believes to be a state-sponsored hacking operation. So with two strikes against Yahoo, it may cast some doubts about the feasibility of the sale of the company’s core Internet business to Verizon
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