US data breach victims can sue Yahoo

IBM Security vice president Caleb Barlow on the increasing use of biometrics to protect the information on your computer and mobile devices.

A judge has ruled that Yahoo can be sued by victims of a data breach that compromised all 3 billion users’ accounts.

Judge Lucy Koh agreed that the plaintiffs’ allegations are sufficient to show that they would have behaved differently had Yahoo disclosed the security weaknesses of the Yahoo Mail System. Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), which purchased Yahoo’s internet business last June, attempted to have the claims dismissed.

The data hack is the largest in history. While Yahoo initially revealed a 1 billion account attack, it later tripled that estimate. The company has been accused of dragging its feet in revealing the data breaches.

Verizon lowered the price it offered for Yahoo to about $4.5 billion after the data breaches were revealed.