IT system audit specialists mention that the website Yahoo has created to present compensation claim due to the massive data breaches (which affected more than 3 billion users worldwide) is already online, although it’s not all good news.
On this website, Yahoo notes that most users residing outside the US and Israel will not be able to request any form of compensation, and that cash payments could be much lower than expected, based on requests received by Yahoo.
The agreement, proposed in April 2019, would take into consideration all Yahoo users residing in the US and Israel, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises with Yahoo accounts operated between 2012 and 2016. “Approximately 896 million accounts will be included, and no more than 194 million people”, mentioned in the original proposal, which equates to less than one-third of the accounts affected by massive data breaches, said the IT system audit specialists.
As previously reported, these massive breaches compromised sensitive details such as full names, email addresses, passwords, and more. After facing a class action lawsuit, Yahoo proposed setting up a fund to compensate those affected, offering two years of credit monitoring services or a cash payment for users already registered with some monitoring service.
The cash payment Yahoo offers to those affected is $100, although the website for claiming compensation specifies that this amount could grow to $358, or be reduced to an unspecified figure, depending on the number of people qualify as they apply for cash payment.
Specialists in IT system audit from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) point out that there are other ways to apply for compensation from Yahoo:
- Up to $25,000 USD can be obtained in case people show that they suffered economic and time losses due to data breaches at Yahoo
- Yahoo could repay up to 25% of expenses made by Premium account holders between 2012 and 2016
- Yahoo could pay up to 25% of the expenses incurred by users of its small business email service between 2012 and 2016, without exceeding $500 USD per year
The agreement could still be amended, as the final approval hearing will be held until April 2020. People who are still dissatisfied with this agreement have until March next year to file claims.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
