Sony Hack Lawsuit Reaches Settlement

A settlement has been reached in the class action lawsuit filed by former employees of Sony Pictures Entertainment for the company’s alleged negligence leading up to the massive computer hack that rocked the entertainment world last year.

The ex-employees claim that even before the breach took place, Sony was aware that its computer systems did not have the necessary security measures in place to safeguard confidential employee information, such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, salaries and health care records.

The breach was ultimately traced backed to hackers in North Korea who attacked Sony in an effort to prevent the release of the controversial comedic film “The Interview,” which portrays a CIA plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Initially the movie’s release was halted by Sony, but the film was eventually released due to public backlash. While the firm did trigger the detrimental attack on Sony, it also pulled in an estimated $15 million just in its first weekend of online distribution alone.

The hackers hit Sony hard, revealing personal emails between Sony Pictures executives and leaking financial documents.

But people associated with the company really felt the full brunt of the breach, which compromised the personal information of more than 47,000 celebrities, freelancers, and current and former Sony employees – leaving affected individuals extremely vulnerable to identity theft.

In July, former Sony employees reported being victims of identity fraud after confirming unauthorized credit cards were opened in their names and finding their own personal information for sale on black market websites, Bloomberg reported last week.

But Sony quickly snapped back in an August court filing that the class action suit should not proceed as none of the case’s plaintiffs endured any financial loss due to the theft of their private information.

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

For more on the digital identity ecosystem, click here to take a look at our Identity Tracker, which helps identify the issues and trends that arise around the digital identity ecosystem.

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