Former Yahoo CEO Mayer Blames Massive Hacks On – Who Else? – Russia

Looks like this guy’s been up to no good…

In an apology that’s long overdue, considering Yahoo revealed two months ago that a series of cyberattacks that it had previously reported actually impacted all of its 3 billion user accounts, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer apologized on Wednesday for a pair of massive data breaches at the internet company. But rather than take responsibility for the cybersecurity failures at company – which was absorbed by Verizon earlier this year – Mayer blamed the hacks on the most convenient bugbear available.

That’s right: Mayer – who gave the apology during Congressional testimony – is blaming the intrusions on the Ruskies, a charge that we’re sure will find sympathy among certain Senate Democrats.

But lest anybody get it twisted, Mayer – in a deflection of blame that was nothing short of Clinton-esque – managed to apologize without admitting ultimate personal responsibility, Reuters reported.

”As CEO, these thefts occurred during my tenure, and I want to sincerely apologize to each and every one of our users,” she told the Senate Commerce Committee, testifying alongside the interim and former CEOs of Equifax Inc and a senior Verizon Communications Inc executive.

 

“Unfortunately, while all our measures helped Yahoo successfully defend against the barrage of attacks by both private and state-sponsored hackers, Russian agents intruded on our systems and stole our users’ data."

Verizon acquired most of Yahoo Inc’s assets in June after Yahoo was forced to accept a lower bid following several unflattering disclosures related to the hacking incidents. Mayer also stepped down in June. Verizon disclosed last month that a 2013 Yahoo data breach affected all 3 billion of its accounts, compared with an estimate of more than 1 billion disclosed in December.

In March, federal prosecutors charged two Russian intelligence agents and two hackers with masterminding the 2014 cybertheft, the first time the US has charged Russia-linked hackers for alleged cybercrimes. Of the accused, one was arrested. Russia has denied the allegations, and there has been some speculation that the attacks were actually planned by the same North Korea-linked group of hackers that perpetrated the 2014 Sony hacks.

According to Reuters, Special Agent Jack Bennett of the FBI’s San Francisco Division said in March the 2013 breach was unrelated to the one Yahoo disclosed in December and that an investigation of the larger incident was continuing.

“We now know that Russian intelligence officers and state-sponsored hackers were responsible for highly complex and sophisticated attacks on Yahoo’s systems,” Mayer said on Wednesday.

The Senate Commerce Committee took the unusual step of subpoenaing Mayer to testify on Oct. 25 after a representative for Mayer declined multiple requests for her voluntarily testimony. A representative for Mayer told Reuters she was appearing voluntarily.
 

via http://ift.tt/2zFMjAL Tyler Durden

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