MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Former CEO of the US Internet giant Yahoo Marissa Mayer, testifying on Wednesday at a hearing of US Senate Committee on Trade, "sincerely" apologized for two huge security breaches, which happened during her tenure as the company's CEO, to those affected, the CBS News broadcaster reported.
READ MORE: Beware of Hackers: Why Yahoo's Biggest-Ever Data Breach is 'Not That Unusual'
According to her the incident had been "promptly" reported to law enforcement and Yahoo worked closely with intelligence services, including the FBI, to expose those responsible. She put the blame for the leaks on Russian intelligence officers and state-sponsored actors, clarifying that this relates to the 2014 breach.
2014 Breach
One of the largest data breaches in history affected 500 million Yahoo users, compromising their contact information, passwords and birth dates. The hackers targeted the accounts of Russian and US government officials, Russian journalists, and private-sector employees of financial, transportation, and other companies.
On March 15, the US Department of Justice announced the indictment of two Russian FSB officers and two alleged criminal hackers over computer hacking, industrial espionage and other criminal offenses in connection with the conspiracy to access Yahoo's network and the contents of web-mail accounts.
A year before, the data of Yahoo parent company Oath/Verizon's 3 billion customers' had also been compromised by unknown hackers. The information, which was stolen, did not include passwords, data on credit cards or user bank accounts.
According to Mayer's testimony, the 2013 breach's origins and perpetrators have not been determined yet, Mayer noted.
Other Tech Giants' Testimony
Apart from the hearing on data breaches, US tech giants, including Google and Facebook, have also recently had to participate in a hearing in the US Senate on the alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election, a claim dubbed "groundless and absurd" by the Kremlin.
READ MORE: Senate Bill Proposes Crackdown on FB, Google Ads Amid 'Russian Meddling' Claims
