Yahoo admits taking additional security measures to encrypt data

Washington: Yahoo has reportedly revealed that it has taken additional security measures in order to protect the data it handles and is also planning to encrypt additional services like Yahoo Messenger.

Yahoo, one of the many technology companies demanding reforms on US surveillance laws, reportedly revealed that it has been encrypting traffic from its data centers since the beginning of this week. According to The Verge, Yahoo`s chief information security officer Alex Stamos said that their goal is to encrypt their entire platform for all users at all time, by default and hundreds of Yahoos have been working around the clock over the last several months for the same. Stamos, who joined Yahoo three weeks ago, made it clear that revelations about the National Security Agency spying has reportedly led directly to Yahoo`s move toward encryption although he did not specifically call out the NSA by name. Stamos said that it is obviously government revelations that caused the huge push adding that the side effect is that the protections they are putting in place protect in a lot of different scenarios. However, Stamos said that it is true that if there is any individual who is being targeted by a top-tier nation state, they will probably find a way, but added that it is very different from being able to keep track of the email and browsing habits of millions of people at the same time. Stamos also said that anything Yahoo can do to protect its users from non-targeted widespread surveillance is their duty and that is what they are trying to do. Yahoo was part of the eight companies including Google, Facebook, Apple and others that called on the US government for reforms to the NSA in December and the request came amid heightened interest in revelations of NSA surveillance programs on US citizens, the report added.