Yahoo Breach Jeopardizes Multi-Billion Dollar Acquisition

Yahoo endangered its business prospects after it sat on news of a massive information breach impacting at least 500 million users. The “catastrophic hacking” exposed a wide array of information, including consumers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, and in some cases, unencrypted security questions and answers. Critics, including a group of U.S. senators, attacked the company’s decision to wait for nearly two years before revealing the breach. This embarrassing news also led Verizon to reconsider its plans to acquire Yahoo and triggered calls for an SEC investigation into whether the company had hidden its security concerns from investors.