Bradley Partner Mike Pennington Quoted in Computerworld on Possible Discount in Verizon’s Deal for Yahoo

Bradley Partner Mike Pennington was quoted in Computerworld on whether Verizon should push for a discount in its pending deal with Yahoo in light of Yahoo’s recent data breach and questions about security practices. While some believe Verizon has grounds to seek a discount on the $4.8 billion deal, Pennington disagrees since Yahoo was the victim of a crime in the massive hack.

“The bad guys are the hackers,” said Pennington. “The federal government has been hacked, too. Should the government lower taxes just because it has been hacked? Of course not.”

When the Yahoo breach was first made public, Pennington said that “the mere fact of a breach does not mean Yahoo, itself the victim of a criminal act by others, should now be exposed to class action liability as a result, particularly from class actions brought on behalf of those who cannot demonstrate real harm resulting from this specific breach.”

He added: “The truth is that no one should have an honest expectation that any online service they use today is absolutely immune from the possibility of state-sponsored and other sophisticated hacking attacks.”

The complete article, “Verizon on firm footing to push for discount in Yahoo deal, analysts say” appeared in Computerworld on October 7, 2016.