Data breach victims can sue Yahoo in the US: Judge

Yahoo has been ordered by a federal judge to face much of a lawsuit in the United States claiming that the personal information of all 3 billion users was compromised in a series of data breaches.

In a decision on last week, US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California rejected a bid by Verizon Communication s Inc, which bought Yahoo’s Internet business last June, to dismiss many claims, including for negligence and breach of contract.

Koh dismissed some other claims. She had previously denied Yahoo’s bid to dismiss some unfair competition claims. The company was accused of being too slow to disclose three data breaches that occurred from 2013 and 2016, increasing users’ risk of identity theft and requiring them to spend money on credit freeze, monitoring and other protection services.

The breaches were revealed after New York- based Verizon agreed to buy Yahoo’s Internet business, and prompted a cut in the purchase price to about $ 4.5 billion. A lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In seeking a dismissal, Yahoo said it has long been the target of “relentless criminal attacks,” and the plaintiffs’ “20/ 20 hindsight” did not cast doubt on its “unending” efforts to thwart “constantly evolving security threats.” — Reuters