On Tuesday, Yahoo claimed that it actually increased a small rate of traffic after the company announced last September 22 that about 500 million of its accounts were hacked. This statement seems to contradict last week's statement issued by Verizon that damage caused by the breach to Yahoo's system could have been very serious to the point that Verizon's deal to the company could be reopened.
Marissa Meyer, Yahoo's Chief Executive, said in a statement where she reported Yahoo's third-quarter financial results, that the company is taking deep responsibility in protecting its users and the security of their information.
"We're working hard to retain their trust and are heartened by their continued loyalty as seen in our user engagement trends," Meyer added.
The revenue of the company for the third quarter declined to 15 per cent compared to the previous year upon adjusting for a change in its accounting. However, Yahoo's profits rose after its management cut its capital spending and eliminated about 300 employees over the last three months.
As per the reopening of the Verizon's sale proposal, Yahoo did not execute its usual conference call with investors to talk about the results especially what the company has learned after its investigation into the incident of data breach.
Yahoo's management explained in its initial disclosure in September that the hackers during the incident were sponsored by a foreign government. They had breached Yahoo's systems in the late 20014 where they had stolen user's information such as names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, encrypted passwords and, in some cases, user's answer to security questions.
Avivah Litan, a Security Analyst at the Gartner research firm, confirmed that it was entirely credible that Yahoo's traffic increased after its disclosed the issue of data breach.
"It raises consumer awareness of the brand," Litan said. "People remember they have accounts there."
Yahoo held that as it works to close the Verizon deal, its business had remained on track. But its internet operations' performance matters much less to investors rather than getting the Verizon's deal done.
Yahoo, Inc. is globally known for its Web portal, search engine Yahoo! Search, and related services, including Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping, video sharing, fantasy sports, and its social media website. It is also considered as one of the most popular sites in the United States.
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