Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Altaba To Settle Lawsuits Relating To Yahoo Data Breach For $47 Million (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the it's-about-time dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Altaba, the holding company of what Verizon left behind after its acquisition of Yahoo, said it has settled three ongoing legal cases relating to Yahoo's previously disclosed data breaches. In a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the former web giant turned investment company said it has agreed to end litigation for $47 million, which the company said will "mark a significant milestone" in cleaning up its remaining liabilities. The deal is subject to court approval, which attorneys for both sides asked the court to approve the deal within 45 days, according to a filing submitted Friday. One of the data breaches occurred in mid-2013, where data on all of the company's three billion users was stolen. The other breach occurred a year later and resulted in 500 million accounts being stolen, including email addresses and passwords.

18 comments

  1. Altaba my anus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and altaba it good

  2. Great news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They settled for what amounts to less than a slap on the wrist. That'll teach them a lesson!

    1. Re:Great news! by olsmeister · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And established a roadmap for companies that are hit with data breaches in the future. Establish a holding company, move vulnerable portions of the business to that company, settle for pennies on the dollar. Bonuses all around!

    2. Re:Great news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      47 Million settles these specific lawsuits over the Yahoo data breaches. It doesn't exonerate the company entirely from other liabilities or penalties. If it wasn't in the plaintiff's interests, they wouldn't settle. This is how shit works everyday.

    3. Re:Great news! by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

      Actually, the holding company was the only valuable part of yahoo -- the share of alibaba stock. They sold the useless stuff like yahoo-owned websites.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
    4. Re:Great news! by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 1

      And established a roadmap for companies that are hit with data breaches in the future. Establish a holding company, move vulnerable portions of the business to that company, settle for pennies on the dollar. Bonuses all around!

      All Yahoo! account holders will, as a result of the settlement, get a stiff, stale, brittle with oxidation, 1990's era Yahoo!-logo-ed beer koozie. Woo HOO! Or should I say, "Ya-Hoo-oo!"

      --
      Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
  3. This is Great by GoTeam · · Score: 1

    All those data breaches, and it never tarnished the reputation of Yahoo! Good for them! Oh, wait...

    1. Re:This is Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All those data breaches, and it never tarnished the reputation of Yahoo! Good for them! Oh, wait...

      Give me a break. Melissa Mayer did far more damage than any data breach did.

    2. Re:This is Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yahoo has always been crap. They made their name in the 90s not as a crappy also-ran web directory, but as the go-to vendor for malware-for-hire of the day. One of the least trustworthy entities on the net.

    3. Re:This is Great by mentil · · Score: 1

      They swore a solemn Oath to the people, that their Yahoos in IT will spend the rest of their days hand-hashing Dogecoins for all affected.

      --
      Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  4. Jackpot for 3 billion people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just tell me where I can collect my 1.5 cents.

    1. Re:Jackpot for 3 billion people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1.5 cents are you crazy? What will the lawyers live on if they give everyone 1.5 cents, try 0.5 cents and be grateful.

  5. RIAA by sit1963nz · · Score: 2

    Now if the RIAA found someone with 500 million illegal downloads there would have been TRILLIONS to pay and lengthy prison sentences
    I doubt there would be enough money in the USA to pay for the 3 Billion Users data by RIAA accounting .

    1. Re: RIAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they would just change the law to make it not illegal. Crimes are only commited by people, not corporations. DUH

  6. Time for Minimum Data Protection Fines? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So their data breaches across 3.5B accounts mean they ended up paying a paltry $0.0134 per account lost in fines? Really wish there would be minimum fines established to start forcing companies to take data protection seriously and drive those that don't secure data into oblivion.
    - Lost non-sensitive or public information (Example: email addresses, phone numbers, addresses) - $10 per account impacted
    - Lost minimally identifiable information (Example: passwords, credit card data, usernames ) - $50 per account impacted
    - Lost personally identifiable data (Example: drivers licenses, social security numbers, passport numbers, tax id's) - $100 per account impacted

    1. Re:Time for Minimum Data Protection Fines? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So their data breaches across 3.5B accounts mean they ended up paying a paltry $0.0134 per account lost in fines? Really wish there would be minimum fines established to start forcing companies to take data protection seriously and drive those that don't secure data into oblivion.
      - Lost non-sensitive or public information (Example: email addresses, phone numbers, addresses) - $10 per account impacted
      - Lost minimally identifiable information (Example: passwords, credit card data, usernames ) - $50 per account impacted
      - Lost personally identifiable data (Example: drivers licenses, social security numbers, passport numbers, tax id's) - $100 per account impacted

      If you establish minimum fines, then you might as well kiss all those "free" services goodbye, which will cause the snowflake generation to violently convulse over the thought of having to pay for shit like web hosting and email.

      In other words, that will never fucking happen.

  7. Try GDPR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    America should learn from the EU, fine based on % of the company's global turnover.

    1. Re:Try GDPR by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      That's $0. There is no global turnover for Altaba.

      When Marissa Meyer sold out to Verizon all the actual businesses with revenue went to Verizon. Altaba agreed to pay the fines, and it also kept Yahoo's investment portfolio, which consists primarily of a $10-15 Billion stake in Alibaba.

      Alibaba does not pay dividends so Altaba have substantial amounts of money, but no revenue.