WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today issued the following statement on the announcement that the number of affected accounts in Yahoo!’s initial December 2016 data breach was substantially larger than previously announced.

“After a breach, affected consumers expect organizations that failed to safeguard sensitive information to be forthcoming about potential risks and explain how they plan to meet their obligations to mitigate damage that may not be known for months or years. Later this month, the Commerce Committee will call representatives of Yahoo! and Equifax to testify about recent breaches, whether new information has revealed steps they should have taken earlier, and whether there is potentially more bad news to come. I expect witnesses to think hard about their obligations to consumers and offer a sober assessment of remaining risks that could be the subject of a future announcement.”

The Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over consumer protection and cybersecurity. The date and witness list for the upcoming hearing will be announced later this month.

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