Russian FSB officers, hackers charged in Yahoo breach

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States has announced charges against two Russian security services officers and two hackers, accusing them of a mega data breach at Yahoo that affected at least a half billion user accounts.

Officials say the hack targeted the email accounts of Russian and U.S. officials, Russian journalists, employees of financial services and other businesses.

The charges arise from a compromise of Yahoo user accounts that began at least as early as 2014. Though the Justice Department has previously charged Russian hackers with cybercrime -- as well as hackers sponsored by the Chinese and Iranian governments -- this is the first criminal case brought against Russian government officials.

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The charges arise from a compromise of Yahoo user accounts that began at least as early as 2014. Though the Justice Department has previously charged Russian hackers with cybercrime - as well as hackers sponsored by the Chinese and Iranian governments - this would be the first criminal case brought against Russian government officials.

It comes as federal authorities investigate Russian interference through hacking in the 2016 presidential election.

Yahoo didn't disclose the 2014 breach until last September when it began notifying at least 500 million users that their email addresses, birth dates, answers to security questions and other personal information may have been stolen. Three months later, Yahoo revealed it had uncovered a separate hack in 2013 affecting about 1 billion accounts, including some that were also hit in 2014.