INDIANAPOLIS -- Over 770,00 Hoosiers impacted by Yahoo's latest massive data breach may be able to take part in a class-action lawsuit against the company.
The Indiana Attorney General’s office sent Yahoo a written letter asking for more information about the breach. The company responded, saying Indiana residents impacted by the data breach received notice by email.
Attorneys from 33 law firms across the country have filed the largest class-action suit in history against Yahoo, alleging the company failed to protect consumer information such as email addresses, passwords, birthdates and security questions and answers.
“To have that kind of breach by a company that engages in the internet in the exchange of information with users is intolerable,” said attorney John Yanchunis, who is leading the class action lawsuit.
The attorneys also allege Yahoo failed to notify consumers of the data breach in a timely manner.
IUPUI student and longtime Yahoo user Samantha Harrison said she’s not sure if she was a victim of the data breach, but is concerned.
“Anything that is associated with your email somebody who has hacked into that, can access that,” said Harrison. “That’s a privacy invasion, and that's not cool."
Hackers cracked Yahoo’s security in 2013 and 2014, and the company recently announced another breach might have happened in 2015 as well.
Yahoo users who join the class action lawsuit could end up with money in their pocket, depending on whether they suffered losses or identity theft as a result of the breach, according to Yanchunis.
Aside from restitution, the suit demands Yahoo do more to ensure the protection of their email account holders.
Yahoo did not provide a comment to Call 6 Investigates on the litigation.
Later this year, the judge handling the case is expected to order that notices be sent to Yahoo account holders to give them the option of joining the suit.
In the meantime, you can contact the Morgan and Morgan law firm at 1-877-621-7573.
Indiana’s breach disclosure law requires Hoosiers to be notified only if certain types of personal information are compromised, such as social security numbers, credit card numbers and driver’s license numbers.
“In this case, it does not appear that this kind of information was disclosed. Therefore Indiana’s law does not appear to apply,” said Corey Elliot, spokesperson for the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. “Any time a breach happens it calls into question the appropriateness of the safeguards in place to protect information. These incidents are a reminder to companies to implement and maintain robust data security protections, including measures to review whether sensitive information has been previously leaked.”
TIPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF:
- Change your Yahoo password
- If the password you use on other accounts is the same or similar, change it too
- Review other accounts for suspicious activity
- Do not click on suspicious links or download unsolicited files
- Do not provide personal information over the phone to individuals claiming to be from Yahoo
- Check your credit report and bank accounts
- Consider placing a security freeze on your credit reports
