Yahoo!'s Candor Concerning Data Breaches Concerns Republican Senators

In regards to two massive data breaches that Yahoo sustained in two successive years, 2013 and 2014, two senators have granted Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer until Feb. 23 to answer the lingering questions about the incidents.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) sent a letter to Mayer last Friday, in which they claimed that the company has failed to "provide answers to many basic questions about the reported breaches." The two senators who are looking into the matter are the chairs of the Consumer Protection and Data Security Subcommittee and the Senate Commerce Committee, respectively.

According to Ars Technica, interestingly enough, Yahoo "abruptly" canceled a meeting that was due for late last month. The meeting was supposed to take place with the Senate staff. The company has also apparently not rescheduled.

The senators raised a specific list of questions which probed the dealings and surrounding incidents around the time of the breaches. The first question directly asks for the number of affected users in both the 2013 and 2014 incidents. They also questioned how Yahoo tried to identify or notify the occurrences to the affected users.

One of the questions was aimed at understanding the extent of the breaches. Yahoo was asked about the data is believes was compromised and whether or not it was inclusive of sensitive or personal information?

Furthermore, the senate inquired if the company had taken any steps to identify and abolish any potential consumer harm in association with these incidents. The restoration of the integrity of the security systems as well as their enhancement was raised as well.

An invasive and detailed timeline of the incidents was requested as well which was to include Yahoo!'s initial discovery in 2013 of a probable compromise of its user information, forensic investigation and subsequent security efforts, notifications to law enforcement agencies, as well as any notification to affected consumers.

In an email statement, Charles Stewart, a Yahoo spokesman, said, "We're in receipt of the letter, reviewing it and will respond as appropriate."

Tags

Yahoo, yahoo data breaches, Republican senators, Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO

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