Yahoo Planning Full Encryption of All User Data By March 2014
It's easy to see why Yahoo chose Marissa Mayer to serve as the company's President and Chief Operating Officer (CEO) after parting ways with Scott Thompson in 2012. For the most part, she's been nothing but brilliant in her role and is quick to react to market conditions. Underscoring her business savvy is the decision to encrypt all user data that travels between its data centers by the end of March 2014.
Mayer made the announcement in a short blog post outlining Yahoo's commitment to protecting user information. In addition to rolling out full encryption by the end of the first quarter in 2014, Mayer said that Yahoo Mail will be made even more secure than it already is by introducing Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption with a 2048-bit key across Yahoo's network by January 8, 2014.
"As you know, there have been a number of reports over the last six months about the U.S. government secretly accessing user data without the knowledge of tech companies, including Yahoo," Mayer explained. "I want to reiterate what we have said in the past: Yahoo has never given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency. Ever."
Mayer's public stance and follow through are the kinds of things consumers want to see after it was discovered that the U.S. government has in place a complex and far reaching spying program. Former CIA employee and NSA contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the government's PRISM antics, disclosing up to 200,000 classified documents to the press. Among those documents were admissions that the government was covertly accessing Yahoo's (along with other companies') user data without Yahoo's knowledge or consent.
Mayer made the announcement in a short blog post outlining Yahoo's commitment to protecting user information. In addition to rolling out full encryption by the end of the first quarter in 2014, Mayer said that Yahoo Mail will be made even more secure than it already is by introducing Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption with a 2048-bit key across Yahoo's network by January 8, 2014.
"As you know, there have been a number of reports over the last six months about the U.S. government secretly accessing user data without the knowledge of tech companies, including Yahoo," Mayer explained. "I want to reiterate what we have said in the past: Yahoo has never given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency. Ever."
Mayer's public stance and follow through are the kinds of things consumers want to see after it was discovered that the U.S. government has in place a complex and far reaching spying program. Former CIA employee and NSA contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the government's PRISM antics, disclosing up to 200,000 classified documents to the press. Among those documents were admissions that the government was covertly accessing Yahoo's (along with other companies') user data without Yahoo's knowledge or consent.
