Yahoo has added extra layers of encryption to protect its users from eavesdropping by the NSA. The technology industry has been moving fast to encrypt more data after the revelations by Edward Snowden last summer. Google recently announced similar measures and now Yahoo has followed suit. Yahoo says traffic between its data centers is now encrypted.
Yahoo still lags Google in terms of encrypting everything, but they are catching up. Yahoo says it will take them longer because some of their content relies on thousands of other companies who may not feel they need to encrypt everything. Therefore, Yahoo's news, sports and finance sections aren't automatically encrypted, but users can add "https" to the address bar to encrypt their session.
"Whether or not our users understand it, I feel it's our responsibility to keep them safe," Alex Stamos, Yahoo's recently hired chief information of security, told a small group of reporters.
Yahoo still lags Google in terms of encrypting everything, but they are catching up. Yahoo says it will take them longer because some of their content relies on thousands of other companies who may not feel they need to encrypt everything. Therefore, Yahoo's news, sports and finance sections aren't automatically encrypted, but users can add "https" to the address bar to encrypt their session.