Several months after Yahoo warned users of a third data breach that occurred between 2015 and 2016, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California has said that breach victims now have the right to sue the company, allowing them to pursue breach of contract and unfair competition claims (via Reuters). Previously, Yahoo argued that these individuals lacked grounds to sue the company, but Koh has now rejected that claim.
This leaves "well over 1 billion users" open to sue the company, all of whom were affected by one of three total data breaches that began to gain notoriety in September 2016, when the company disclosed that "at least" 500 million Yahoo accounts were compromised in a late 2014 cyber attack. A second attack was disclosed in December 2016, regarding a user information leak that happened in August 2013, and then the third and presumably last warning about a previous attack came in February 2017.
This outlined a period of data breaches that began in 2013 and lasted until 2016, with Yahoo waiting more than three years to reveal information about any of the attacks. Breached info related to names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, hashed passwords, and both encrypted and unencrypted security questions and answers.
Because each affected user now faces the risk of identity theft, Koh ruled in a 93-page decision that plaintiffs can now amend previously dismissed complaints to gain new legal ground against Yahoo.
This leaves "well over 1 billion users" open to sue the company, all of whom were affected by one of three total data breaches that began to gain notoriety in September 2016, when the company disclosed that "at least" 500 million Yahoo accounts were compromised in a late 2014 cyber attack. A second attack was disclosed in December 2016, regarding a user information leak that happened in August 2013, and then the third and presumably last warning about a previous attack came in February 2017.
This outlined a period of data breaches that began in 2013 and lasted until 2016, with Yahoo waiting more than three years to reveal information about any of the attacks. Breached info related to names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, hashed passwords, and both encrypted and unencrypted security questions and answers.
Because each affected user now faces the risk of identity theft, Koh ruled in a 93-page decision that plaintiffs can now amend previously dismissed complaints to gain new legal ground against Yahoo.
“All plaintiffs have alleged a risk of future identity theft, in addition to loss of value of their personal identification information,” the judge wrote. Koh said some plaintiffs also alleged they had spent money to thwart future identity theft or that fraudsters had misused their data. Others, meanwhile, could have changed passwords or canceled their accounts to stem losses had Yahoo not delayed disclosing the breaches, the judge said.Yahoo's disclosure of the security breaches came in the midst of its acquisition by Verizon, and ended up affecting the carrier's offer. After an initial offer of $4.83 billion, Verizon ended up purchasing Yahoo's core business assets for $4.48 billion in order to limit potential liability. The deal closed this past summer and at the same time, Verizon announced plans to lay off about 2,100 Yahoo employees.
“We believe it to be a significant victory for consumers, and will address the deficiencies the court pointed out,” John Yanchunis, a lawyer for the plaintiffs who chairs an executive committee overseeing the case, said in an interview. “It’s the biggest data breach in the history of the world.”
Tag: Yahoo
30 comments
In an interview with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts this morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed the new iPhone XS, XS Max, Apple Watch, and the recent exemption of some Apple's products...
iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max reviews have hit the web, three days before the smartphones are released in stores.
2018 is what is known as a "S" year—hence the XS branding—in which...
Apple started preparing the first iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and Apple Watch Series 4 orders for shipment over the weekend, and now those orders have started shipping out to customers.
Apple has...
Apple CEO Tim Cook will appear on Good Morning America tomorrow morning, where he will be interviewed by Robin Roberts live in Times Square in New York City.
Good Morning America announced...
Photographer Austin Mann, who often goes hands-on with new iPhone models in exotic locations to test their capabilities in real world situations, has taken a first look at the iPhone XS and shared...
Multiple popular password management apps for iOS devices have been updated with support for a convenient new iOS 12 feature, Password AutoFill.
With Password AutoFill, logins and passwords...
Apple this morning released iOS 12, and following the update, hundreds of apps are introducing support for the new features, including Siri Shortcuts. Siri Shortcuts let you create multi-step...
The Apple Watch, AirPods, and some other Apple products will be exempted from a proposed $200 billion tariff on Chinese goods, reports Bloomberg.
An updated list of products affected by the...
