Yahoo Offers $50 Million Settlement Package for Users Affected by Security Breach

• Yahoo suffered one of the biggest class action lawsuits in recent history after the company was affected by a security breach.
• Up to 200 million U.S. consumers were affected along with three billion international emails.
• The security breach was reported to be state-funded by Russia.

Yahoo suffered one of the largest data breaches in the recent past with over 200 million US users and 3 billion international email accounts being compromised. The two-year lawsuit may finally come to an end with the tech giant agreeing to offer a $50 million settlement package to compensate for the damages caused.

In addition to the settlement package, an additional $35 million on lawyer fees will be covered. Affected users will also receive a credit monitoring service via AllClear for two years, which retails for $350. There are compensation options available for small businesses and individuals as well which will help them cut back losses suffered due to the hacks. Users affected by identity theft, delayed tax refunds, and any other issues that are linked to the data breach can expect compensation. Yahoo Premium users will also receive a 25% refund off the email service’s costs.

The settlement package is pending approval, and a hearing is slated at the Northern District of California court where U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh will offer a verdict. With Yahoo being acquired by Oath, the costs incurred for settlement will be divided into equal parts between both companies.

The data breaches began in 2013, and the company did not make the incident public until 2016. The attacks were reported to be state-funded by Russia. It took over 4 years to find proof and the reports were finally confirmed. Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer at the time revealed that “Yahoo worked closely with law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who were ultimately able to identify and expose the hackers responsible for the attacks. We now know that Russian intelligence officers and state-sponsored hackers were responsible for highly complex and sophisticated attacks on Yahoo’s systems.”

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