Yahoo Feels Pressure after Second Big Hacking Attack

Yahoo is remaining in the spotlight after the online search company admitted that it had been a victim of a second significant hacking in 2013.

The firm’s shares were 6% on Wall Street earlier this month thanks to concerns that an intended sale to telecommunications company Verizon may be in jeopardy.

Regulators and politicians asked for something to be done in light of Yahoo’s revelations that over one billion accounts were hacked.

This comes after Yahoo’s revelation this September of a massive hacking attack in 2014.

Its breach the previous year, revealed while the police and IT security professionals were looking into the 2014 hack that affected 500,000 user accounts, ranks as the largest IT security hack ever.

US reports said that Verizon, which came to an agreement with Yahoo to buy its core web business for $4.8bn (£3.84bn), is attempting to have Yahoo amend its terms on the sale agreement, to take into account any financial damage suffered from both hacks.

If Yahoo’s advertisers and users begin to desert the firm, its value will decline in the eyes of Verizon.

A spokesperson for Yahoo said:

“We are confident in Yahoo’s value, and we continue to work towards integration with Verizon.”

For a company such as Yahoo, which holds an enormous volume of personal data, to have been hacked twice in two years is a concern. It does serve to show, however, the vulnerability of all businesses when it comes to IT security. SMEs in the UK would be wise to learn from such examples and create more IT security jobs to better protect themselves.