Yahoo's massive data breach has officially caused more than customer headaches.
Verizon has reduced its purchase price of Yahoo by $350 million due to Yahoo's security breaches, the companies announced today. Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo is now valued at approximately $4.48 billion in cash, down from $4.8 billion.
In a statement, the companies said "Verizon and Yahoo will share certain legal and regulatory liabilities arising from certain data breaches incurred by Yahoo."
Specifically, Yahoo will be responsible for 50 percent of any cash fines handed down by the feds (other than the Securities and Exchange Commission) or incurred in lawsuits. Yahoo is still on the hook for shareholder lawsuits and SEC investigations.
"The amended terms of the agreement provide a fair and favorable outcome for shareholders. It provides protections for both sides and delivers a clear path to close the transaction in the second quarter," Marni Walden, Verizon executive vice president and president of product innovation and new businesses, said in a statement.
Verizon announced plans to acquire Yahoo's "operating business" in July. Two months later, Yahoo confirmed that data associated with least 500 million user accounts was stolen in a 2014 breach of its network. In December, Yahoo announced that more than 1 billion Yahoo accounts were hacked. That hack occurred in August 2013, and compromised names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, passwords and security questions and answers.
At the time, Yahoo also said it was investigating reports of forged cookies that may be connected to the hack announced in September. This month, Yahoo started notifying users affected by those forged cookies.
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