It’s Friday! Take a break from work and get caught up with this week’s cybersecurity news with our picks for the hottest articles from the IT and security presses:

1. “Hackers compromise 100,000 IRS tax accounts with pre-stolen data” by Lee Munson
   This week the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) posted a statement on their website stating that hackers have gained access to the personal information of about 100,000 taxpayers. The cybercriminals used third party sites to gain unauthorized access to the taxpayers' accounts, making off with tax returns and filings from previous years. For more on this breach, read this article.
2. “$19 million Target, MasterCard breach settlement crumbles” by John Fontana
   Last month a settlement was reached between Target and MasterCard over the 2013 breach that occurred. However, in order for this settlement to be fulfilled, 90% of MasterCard issuing banks and credit unions had to be in agreement by May 20th, which did not happen. To find out more about this failed settlement attempt and what will happen next, check out this article.
3. “Judge OKs class-action status for email-scanning lawsuit against Yahoo” by Zach Miners
   It has been announced that Yahoo is facing a lawsuit as the company is being accused of violating the privacy of their email users. The lawsuit claims that Yahoo’s email scanning processes are illegal, violating federal and California wiretapping laws. For more details on this case, give this article a read.
4. “What Data Breaches Now Cost And Why” by Kelly Jackson Higgins
   While no industry sectors are immune from cyberattacks, the sector and location of a company does play a key role in the actual cost of a data breach. According a new Ponemon report, the cost of data breaches rose by 23% in 2014. This article provides insight on the different factors that affect the cost of data breaches as well as what has been proven to alter the cost of these attacks.
5. “iPhone text message bug can crash Apple Watch, iPad and Mac too” by Samuel Gibbs
   A single text message has been found that not only crashes iPhones but almost all Apple devices capable of receiving messages. This message contains an ellipsis coupled with a set of non-Latin script characters. Once this message is sent, the receiver’s device will crash and then reboot due to a programming flaw. Is this a good way to prank your friends or an annoying software bug? You make the call.