Yahoo settles for $47 million in litigation following data breach of 3 billion accounts

Everyone remembers the Yahoo breach — it was simply historical and created mass hysteria at the time. The company ultimately confirmed in late 2017 that, following an alleged state-sponsored attack, all user accounts had been breached – that is 3 billion users. If you can”t really put your finger on what that number means, 3 billion was the world population in 1959.

Quite late in the incident, Yahoo came out in the media to disclose it had suffered three massive data breaches, raising serious questions about the company”s cybersecurity strategy, network security and business ethics. When it finally made it clear that its entire user base had been compromised, a number of class action lawsuits were initiated, as well as an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Yahoo data breach lawsuits have been settled for $47 million in litigation, according to a letter to shareholders signed by Altaba CEO Thomas J. McInerney. Altaba is the investment company that emerged after Yahoo”s internet business was bought by Verizon.

“We are also pleased to announce today that we have reached an agreement in principle (subject to court approval) to settle the consumer class action litigation related to the Yahoo data breach,” reads the letter. “We have also received final court approval of the securities class action settlement, and we have negotiated an agreement to settle the shareholder derivative litigation (subject to court approval). We estimate that the Company will incur an incremental net $47 million in litigation settlement expenses to resolve all three cases. Together, these developments mark a significant milestone in cleaning up our contingent liabilities related to the Yahoo data breach.”