Yahoo now encrypting traffic from its data centers, and plans to encrypt Messenger too

Yahoo is one of the many technology companies demanding reforms on US surveillance laws, and now says it has taken additional security measures to protect data it handles. The company announced that it has begun encrypting traffic from its data centers, and plans to add encryption to additional services like Yahoo Messenger.

That's on top of existing measures that let web users access secured versions of its various properties like Yahoo News, Sports, and Finance. "Hundreds of Yahoos have been working around the clock to provide a more secure experience for our users and we want to do even more moving forward," wrote Alex Stamos, Yahoo's chief information security officer. "Our goal is to encrypt our entire platform for all users at all time, by default." While Stamos did not specifically call out the National Security Agency by name, he made it clear that revelations about NSA spying led directly to Yahoo's move toward more encryption. "The impetus for the huge push is obviously government revelations," Stamos told reporters. "The side effect is that the protections we're putting in place protect in a lot of different scenarios."