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Cybersecurity Due Diligence

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Cybersecurity Due Diligence

Cybersecurity Due Diligence: What Most Companies Skip

The $350 Million Oversight Nobody Saw Coming When Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017, two previously undisclosed breaches affecting all 3 billion Yahoo accounts forced a $350 million price reduction. That's what happens when cybersecurity due diligence fails at the highest level. The breaches had already happened. The data

Carl B. Johnson May 25, 2026 5 min read
Cybersecurity Due Diligence

Cybersecurity Due Diligence: What Most Companies Miss

The $350 Million Typo in Verizon's Yahoo Deal When Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017, the discovery of two massive data breaches — affecting all 3 billion Yahoo accounts — knocked $350 million off the purchase price. That's not a rounding error. That's what happens when cybersecurity

Carl B. Johnson May 12, 2026 5 min read
Cybersecurity Due Diligence

Cybersecurity Due Diligence: What Most Companies Skip

The $350 Million Acquisition That Fell Apart Over a Data Breach When Verizon moved to acquire Yahoo in 2017, the deal was nearly complete. Then Yahoo disclosed two massive data breaches affecting all three billion user accounts. Verizon knocked $350 million off the purchase price. That single failure in cybersecurity

Carl B. Johnson Feb 28, 2025 8 min read
Cybersecurity Due Diligence

Cybersecurity Due Diligence: What It Really Takes

The $350 Million Lesson Marriott Learned After Closing the Deal When Marriott acquired Starwood Hotels in 2016, the deal looked like a hospitality industry win. What nobody caught during cybersecurity due diligence was that Starwood's reservation system had been compromised since 2014. The breach wasn't discovered

Carl B. Johnson Jun 06, 2023 7 min read
Cybersecurity Due Diligence

Cybersecurity Due Diligence: What Most Companies Skip

When Marriott acquired Starwood Hotels in 2016, the deal looked solid on paper. Two years later, Marriott disclosed that hackers had been inside Starwood's reservation system since 2014 — exposing the personal data of up to 500 million guests. The breach predated the acquisition. The liability didn't.

Carl B. Johnson Sep 23, 2021 7 min read
Cybersecurity Due Diligence

Cybersecurity Due Diligence: What Most Companies Miss

The $350 Million Wake-Up Call Nobody Expected When Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017, a previously undisclosed breach affecting 3 billion accounts forced the deal price down by $350 million. That single failure of cybersecurity due diligence became the most expensive cautionary tale in M&A history — and it permanently

Carl B. Johnson Jun 25, 2020 7 min read