Individual sues Yahoo over data breach

A man has decided to sue Yahoo after it was revealed the personal details of 500 million people were stolen in a data breach.

The New York resident has decided to take the matter into his own hands, suing the internet giant for gross negligence on behalf of everyone affected.

The case doesn't specify how much the man is claiming Yahoo should pay the individuals, but his case says the company didn't put the security measures in place to prevent the hack happening.

"Companies will get breached, that's not news and I don't think customers believe any differently. What customers do implicitly expect from companies is that threats and breaches are detected in a timely manner and remedial actions taken," said Javvad Malik, security advocate at security firm AlienVault.

"It is essential for companies to put in place robust threat detection and response controls to be able to react in a timely manner whenever a breach occurs."

Yahoo would not comment on the matter, saying the company doesn't discuss pending litigation.

Last week, it was revealed the names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and encrypted passwords of Yahoo users had been stolen in late 2014.

Yahoo is currently in the process of being purchased by US telecoms company Verizon, although it's unclear whether this data breach will have an impact on the sale.

"We will evaluate as the investigation continues through the lens of overall Verizon interests, including consumers, customers, shareholders and related communities," Verizon said in a statement.