Yahoo could face a class-action lawsuit over data breaches

A US court has said that Yahoo must face the lawsuit brought on behalf of over 1 billion users whose personal data and information were compromised in the Yahoo's multiple data breaches, as per the Reuters report.

The lawsuit concerns two major breaches: one that occurred in 2013 and impacted more than a billion users, and another in late 2014 that affected at least 500 million accounts. A third breach occurred in 2015 and 2016. “All plaintiffs have alleged a risk of future identity theft, in addition to the loss of value of their personal identification information,” US District Judge Lucy Koh wrote.

“We believe it to be a significant victory for consumers, and will address the deficiencies the court pointed out,” John Yanchunis, a lawyer for the plaintiffs who chairs an executive committee overseeing the case, said in an interview. “It’s the biggest data breach in the history of the world.”

Yahoo had admitted earlier this year that senior executives were in the know of the 2014 hack by a state-sponsored attacker. An investigation by an independent committee found that they did not “properly comprehend or investigate” the incident to the full extent of what was known by Yahoo’s cyber security team.

The ruling is a blow to Verizon, which now owns Yahoo. Verizon reduced its acquisition offer by $350 million following the disclosure of the breaches, purchasing the site for $4.48 billion in cash.