A report by veteran tech journalist Kara Swisher at Recode says that Yahoo is preparing to confirm a massive data breach that has impacted over 200 million users. The extent of the breach, or whether hackers were able to gain access to users accounts, is unknown.
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Earlier this summer, Yahoo said it was investigating a data breach in which hackers claimed to have access to 200 million user accounts and was selling them online. “It’s as bad as that,” said one source. “Worse, really.”
The announcement, which is expected to come this week, also possible larger implications on the $US4.8 ($6) billion sale of Yahoo’s core business — which is at the core of this hack — to Verizon. The scale of the liability could be large and bring untold headaches to the new owners. Shareholders are likely to worry that it could lead to an adjustment in the price of the transaction.
The hack itself isn’t new. Motherboard reported on it earlier this winter, but a confirmation from Yahoo might cause trouble when it comes to closing their sale to Verizon. Recode says Yahoo may have to force users to reset their passwords.
We reached out to Yahoo but did not hear back by time of writing.
[Recode]