YAHOO! has been sued for the alleged 2014 hacking involving over 500 million subscribers. The cyber attack information which was made public last Thursday has been described as the largest security breach in the world’s history.
Media reports confirm the lawsuit was filed in Sunnyvale, by Yahoo user and New Yorker Ronald Schwartz on behalf of all U.S. Yahoo users.
The lawsuit accuses the company of “gross negligence” over the data breach, Beijing Bulletin reported.
The U.S tech company which has about 9,400 employees on its payroll has claimed that the cyber attack was “state-sponsored”, pointing fingers at the Russian military intelligence agencies.
The claimants reportedly cited a research which argues that Yahoo was careless in the way it handled the breach which occured since 2014. In addition, the fact that the tech company kept this scurity matter a secret and left it unsolved until a journalist contacted them for statements, makes the lawsuit unavoidable.
According to the recorded research findings cited by Ronald Schwartz on behalf of Yahoo users:
- It takes an average 191 days for a hack to be identified.
- And 58 days to contain a breach after it’s been discovered.
The lawsuit reportedly contends that information from 500 million accounts had been compromised in the two years it took Yahoo to learn about the breach and called this unacceptable.
Yahoo made public statements last weekend, saying that all subscribers’ financial details remained safe, adding that the authorities are investigating the crime.
Meanwhile, the company is facing another lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in San Diego where the claimant has alleged that the hack leaked personal information and caused an “intrusion into personal financial matters.”
A Yahoo spokeswoman said the Sunnyvale, California-based company does not discuss pending litigation.
Verizon held serious business talks with Yahoo earlier in July for an estimated $4.83 billion acquisition. However, there are wide speculations that the recent breach and secrecy may impact on the proposed sale.
Reports confirm Verizon has declined from making public statements regarding the matter.
The pending case is Schwartz v Yahoo Inc, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 16-05456.
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