Yahoo Investigates Claim Of New Hack Of User Data

(RTTNews) - Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) is evaluating whether an unidentified hacker has access to its user account data, following a 2014 hack that resulted in the theft of more than 500 million user account records.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Yahoo said law enforcement authorities on Monday began sharing certain data that they indicated was provided by a hacker who claimed the information was Yahoo user account data. Yahoo will analyze and investigate the hacker's claim that the data is Yahoo user account data.

Yahoo has said previously that it believes its networks were compromised in late 2014 by "state-sponsored" hackers who stole names, email addresses, telephone numbers and dates of birth of more than 500 million users. In the Wednesday filing, Yahoo also said the forensic experts are currently investigating certain evidence and activity that indicates an intruder, believed to be the same state-sponsored actor responsible for the Security Incident, created cookies that could have enabled such intruder to bypass the need for a password to access certain users' accounts or account information.

The company said it recorded expenses of $1 million related to the Security Incident in the quarter ended September 30, 2016.

The company said it is facing 23 class-action lawsuits following the hack.