Federal officials this week heaped praise on Yahoo Inc. Chief Executive Marissa Mayer for the companys cooperation in an investigation of the hacking of hundreds of millions of the sites accounts.
It was rare recognition for Ms. Mayer, for whom each additional disclosure about the 2014 security breach since she made it public last September has magnified its scope and implications.
The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday accused the Russian government of facilitating the attackand said that the hackers were able to use the information they stole until last December, more than two years after the initial breach occurred.
FBI San Francisco Division Special Agent in Charge Jack Bennett on Wednesday praised Ms. Mayers great leadership and courage while under intense pressure from many entities.
Federal officials didnt fault Yahoo for the attack, and instead positioned Yahoo as a victim in an unfair fight against state-sponsored hackers.
Yahoo didnt respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The Yahoo case provided the Justice Department a clear example to illustrate the benefits to companies of cooperating with law enforcement in investigating cyberbreaches. The governments reaction this week shows it wont fault the company itself for the breach, said officials and cybersecurity experts.
Youd be amazed by the number of companies whose first instinct is to duck and cover, said Michael Sulmeyer, director of the Cyber Security Project at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
