All data that moves between Yahoo’s data centers is now encrypted

Yahoo has announced major steps to encrypt its users’ data in the wake of whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations about the extent of government surveillance of private citizens. Alex Stamos, Yahoo’s recently appointed chief information security officer, said on Wednesday his ultimate aim was to make sure “all traffic through Yahoo will be encrypted by default”. Stamos, a well-known security researcher, was an outspoken critic of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) mass surveillance programme before he joined Yahoo. He said the moves would make it much more difficult for governments, or other parties, to collect information wholesale from the public.