Yahoo to provide details on massive data breach

A Yahoo logo is seen on top of the building where they have offices in New York City, U.S., A Yahoo logo is seen on top of the building where they have offices in New York City, U.S., July 25, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) – Yahoo Inc will disclose details this week of a data breach that compromised the data of several hundred million users, technology news site Recode reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the company’s plan.

Reuters was not able to immediately confirm the report.

It was not clear how such a disclosure might affect Yahoo’s plan to sell its email service and other core internet properties to Verizon Communications Inc for $4.8 billion.

Yahoo might have to force users to reset their passwords, the Recode report said, citing unnamed sources.

The report follows an Aug. 1 story in the technology news site, Motherboard, that said a cyber criminal known as Peace was selling the data of about 200 million Yahoo users, but did not confirm its authenticity.

The Motherboard report was published a week after Verizon announced its deal with Yahoo.

Peace was selling that batch of data on the 200 million Yahoo users for 3 bitcoin, or around $1,860, according to Motherboard. The possibly compromised data includes user names, birth dates, some backup email addresses and scrambled passwords, Motherboard said.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle in Boston and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr and Bernadette Baum)

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