Pressure on Yahoo grows after massive hack attack

Pressure on Yahoo continued to grow after the internet search giant revealed that it was the victim of another huge hacking attack in 2013. 

The company's shares closed down more than 6% on Wall Street on fears that a planned sale to Verizon was in doubt. Politicians and regulators called for action after Yahoo disclosed on Wednesday that more than one billion user accounts may have been breached.


That followed Yahoo's disclosure in September of a huge hacking in 2014. The 2013 breach, uncovered while cyber security experts and the police were investigating the 2014 attack that hit 500,000 accounts, is the largest data security hack in history.

According to reports in the US, telecommunications giant Verizon, which agreed to buy Yahoo's core internet business in July for $4.8bn, is now trying to persuade Yahoo to amend the terms of the acquisition agreement to reflect the economic damage from the two hacks.

If Yahoo users and advertisers start deserting the company, that will reduce its value to Verizon.
Asked about the status of the deal, a Yahoo spokesperson said: "We are confident in Yahoo's value and we continue to work towards integration with Verizon."

Verizon had already said in October it was reviewing the deal after September's breach disclosure. The company said on Wednesday that it would "review the impact of this new development before reaching any final conclusions" about whether to proceed.