Yahoo has confirmed a data breach that compromised the data of several hundred million users.
Advertisement
However, the hacker behind the sale claimed that the stolen database involved only 200 million users and was likely obtained in 2012.
This timescale leaves Verizon with wiggle room to renegotiate the purchase price or even back out if it believes the security breach will harm Yahoo’s business.
Yahoo! has said it will email all those thought to be affected by the theft and is advising everyone who hasn’t changed their passwords in the last two years to do so.
Today, the company posted an official message on its Tumblr blog, announcing that 500 million accounts were compromised in what the company believes was a “state-sponsored” act.
The stolen information may include names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords, as well as encrypted and encrypted security questions and answers.
Yahoo states that there is no evidence now that unprotected passwords, payment card data, bank account information or other financial information were among the stolen data. The hacker is not now in the company system, Yahoo said. In the meantime, the company urges users to change their password and security questions and to review their accounts for suspicious activity.
Yahoo!, one of the most popular websites in the world, says it has almost a billion active monthly users and is no stranger to security breaches. According to GameSpot sister site CNET, Verizon said it was made aware of the breach earlier this week, at which time it had “limited information and understanding of the impact”.
Coming clean about the scale of the breach two years ago comes as the site is trying to complete a sale to telecom behemoth Verizon for almost $5 billion. “Yahoo is working closely with law enforcement on this matter”.
In a statement, Verizon said: “We will evaluate as the investigation continues through the lens of overall Verizon interests”. It can be easy for the “right thing to do” to slip through the cracks in a multi-billion dollar transition, said Tim Erlin, senior director of IT security and risk strategy at Tripwire, a computer security firm.
Investors evidently aren’t nervous about the Verizon deal unraveling yet.
Advertisement
For those that are curious, Yahoo’s stock is down 0.67 percent at $43.84 with less than an hour before the market closes.
