Some five months after Yahoo disclosed a security breach that exposed sensitive data for 500 million accounts, some of its systems remained compromised, according to a report published Tuesday. The report said that in light of the hacks, Verizon would knock $350 million off the price it would pay to acquire Yahoo's Internet business.
"A recent meeting between technical staff of the two companies revealed that some of Yahoo’s systems were compromised and might be difficult to integrate with Verizon’s AOL unit," The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people. Verizon remains concerned that the breaches may hamper user engagement and in the process make the assets less valuable. Yahoo responded by cutting $350 million from the original $4.83 billion price tag, bringing the deal value to about $4.48 billion. It wasn't clear precisely when the meeting occurred.
In a release issued jointly by Yahoo and Verizon, the companies said neither the breaches nor any losses arising from them will be taken into account in determining whether a "Business Material Adverse Effect" has occurred or whether certain closing conditions have been satisfied. In addition to the $350 million price cut, the companies agreed to split the costs of responding to the breaches.