Yahoo Breach: US Senator Seeks SEC Role In Probe

US Senator Mark Warner has written to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate whether Yahoo has taken adequate measures to make the public aware of the 2014 breach and also made proper representations of its system’s security, says Reuters.

Last week’s disclosure by Yahoo of the hacking of 500 million accounts in late 2014 has raised questions of transparency from publicly traded companies. A 2012 Reuters probe revealed that breach reports were often not included by companies in their regulatory filings, despite a SEC requirement and there was no mention of a breach in a Sep. 9 filing by Yahoo.

"Disclosure is the foundation of federal securities laws, and public companies are required to disclose material events that shareholders should know about," wrote Warner.  

It is unlikely, says cyber lawyer Robert Cattanach, that Yahoo will be sued for damages under SEC rules, but the agency and the Federal Trade Commission could launch a probe. The FBI, too, is investigating because Yahoo has blamed a “state-sponsored actor” for the hack.

Read more on Reuters.