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Former Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer. (Image: pool photo)
Former Yahoo and Equifax bosses stumbled through a Wednesday hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee without answering basic questions about their respective massive data breaches, much to the chagrin of questioning lawmakers.
Marissa Mayer, who led Yahoo until she left earlier this year with a $260 million payout after the web giant was bought by Verizon, wasn’t able to tell senators how hackers were able to steal the company’s entire store of three billion user accounts during a breach in 2013.
Yahoo disclosed the hack last year, after initially saying only one billion accounts were stolen.
She also wasn’t able to say who was to blame for the attack, or why it took three years to learn of the breach.
What makes the Yahoo affair more confusing is that months before the disclosure, the company admitted it had been hacked in an entirely separate breach from 2014, in which 500 million user accounts were stolen.
Mayer recast blame on Russian hackers for the 2014 breach. Justice Department prosecutors filed charges against four Russians, including two intelligence officials and two other hackers.
But while Mayer lacked answers, she countered with contrition.
“As CEO, these thefts occurred during my tenure,” said Mayer, during her opening remarks. “I want to sincerely apologize to each and every one of our users.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) was less than forgiving, who said that it was “unfathomable” Mayer walked away with a payout that amounts to a what “small city” uses for its annual operating budget.
Richard Smith, meanwhile, who retired earlier this year after the catastrophic data breach at credit agency Equifax, which affected more than 145 million Americans, couldn’t tell senators who was behind the attack.
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