Senators Accuse Yahoo Of ‘unacceptable’ Delay In Hack Discovery

Six Democratic U.S. senators on Tuesday asked embattled Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer for more information about the internet company’s investigation into a hack that compromised data related to 500 million user accounts.

The lawmakers said they were “disturbed” the two-year-old intrusion was only announced last week.

“That means millions of Americans' data may have been compromised for two years,” the senators wrote in a joint letter addressed to Mayer. “This is unacceptable.”

Yahoo has faced pointed questions about exactly when it knew about the 2014 cyber attack that exposed the email credentials of users, a critical issue for the company as it seeks to prevent the breach from affecting a pending takeover of its core business by Verizon Inc (VZ.N).

The senators requested a briefing from Yahoo to explain the company’s investigation into the breach, its cooperation with law enforcement and national security authorities, and plans to protect affected users.

Yahoo did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter.

The letter was signed by Senators Patrick Leahy, Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Ron Wyden and Edward Markey.

REUTERS