“Yahoo discovered the hack that led to a data breach affecting more than a half billion accounts nearly two years before the attack was disclosed in September, according to documents filed with financial regulators Wednesday.
News of the breach broke as Yahoo was finalizing a deal to sell off its core business to Verizon. That deal may now be under threat, Yahoo acknowledged for the first time in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Yahoo noticed the infiltration, which it claims was carried out by state-backed hackers, shortly after it occurred in late 2014, according to the regulatory filing. However, the company did not understand the extent of the attack until a claim by a hacker in July to have obtained vast amounts of Yahoo user data led to a review, the document suggested.
The company had brought in outside forensics experts who were unable to substantiate the claims made in July, according to the filing.”
Author: Andrea Peterson