515,121 accounts belonging to UK users were compromised
UK’s data watchdog has fined Yahoo’s British subsidiary £250,000 for losing the data of more than half a million people in the 2014 data scandal. Yahoo had kept the scandal under wraps until 2016.
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as many as 515,121 accounts belonging to British users were compromised in the attack.
The ICO deputy commissioner of operations, James Dipple-Johnstone, added: “People expect that organisations will keep their personal data safe from malicious intruders who seek to exploit it. The failings our investigation identified are not what we expect from a company that had ample opportunity to implement appropriate measures, and potentially stop UK citizens’ data being compromised.”
Personal data compromised in the breach included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords, and encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers.
Yahoo has since been acquired by Verizon and merged with AOL to form a joint entity called Oath.
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