Yahoo Expected to Confirm Breach of 200 Million Users Data

As Verizon Communications prepares to overtake the waning company, Yahoo! Inc. is expected to disclose the details of a massive data breach, as reported by Recode early this morning.

Update: Yahoo Confirms Data Breach, At Least 500 Million Users Affected

Sources close to the situation noted the breach is widespread and serious, though few specifics are available due to the likelihood of legal action and government investigation. Yahoo did disclose earlier this summer that a data breach was being investigated which could have compromised 200 million user accounts. One source confirmed “It’s as bad as that … worse, really.”

The data has appeared by at least on hacker on the dark web selling for around $1800, allegedly including user names, easily decrypted passwords, birth dates and other email addresses from a 2012 breach. Yahoo did not confirm nor deny the claim, not did they issue a mandatory password reset on its users.

Yahoo’s integration into Verizon is pending approval from a number of regulatory agencies and Yahoo shareholders though this hack could have serious implications on the deal. The unknown scale of the hack could lead to a price adjustment from the original $4.8 billion price tag.