Sony is facing yet another lawsuit over the massive <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/Sony-PlayStation-Network-Security-Data-Breach-Class-Action-Lawsuit">PlayStation Network hack. This time, a Canadian user of Sony’s PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) service is seeking $1 billion, some of which would pay for credit monitoring services and fraud insurance coverage for Canadians whose personal information was compromised.
Just last week, it was learned that personal information for more than 70 million users of the PlayStation Network and Qtriocity networks had been compromised in what was one of the largest security breaches in Internet history. Both of those services have been offline since April 20. Users may have suffered the loss of their personal and private information, including possibly their credit card information.
Sony learned about the PlayStation Network hack on April 19, but didn’t inform users until April 26, claiming it didn’t realize how serious the breach was. The company has assured its customers that credit card data was encrypted and safe, but there have been reports that hackers are trying to sell the information on underground internet forums.
Then earlier this week, Sony announced the SOE network had also been hacked. Sony said it had discovered evidence that information from an outdated database from 2007 containing approximately 12,700 non-US customer credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes) and about 10,700 direct debit records listing bank account numbers of certain customers in Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Spain may have also been obtained.
Sony insisted that there was no evidence that its main credit card in database was compromised in the SOE hack, as it is in a completely separate and secured environment.
To date, the only compensation Sony has offered is a 30 or 60 day free memberships on its PlayStation network.
The Canadian lawsuit names Sony Japan, Sony USA, Sony Canada and other Sony entities (“Sonyâ€) as defendants. It was brought by a 21-year-old Ontario resident, Natasha Maksimovic, who is described in a statement from her attorney as an “avid PlayStation user for years.”
“If you can’t trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust,” Maksimovic said. “It appears to me that Sony focuses more on protecting its games than its PlayStation users.â€
Last week, plaintiffs in the U.S. filed a class action lawsuit in California over the PlayStation Network hack. That lawsuit claims Sony failed to take reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users. The lawsuit seeks, among other things, monetary compensation for the data loss and loss of use of the Sony PlayStation Network and credit monitoring.
Meanwhile, Sony has named a possible culprit for the security breaches. According to a CBC report, the company has suggested a hacking group known as Anonymous planted a file on one of its servers. Sony said in a letter to a U.S. congressional subcommittee that the hackers planted a file named Anonymous on one of its SOE servers, with the tag line, “We are Legion,†which is used by the group.
Back in April, a YouTube video presumably posted by Anonymous admitted there was “ill will” between the group and Sony over the company’s lawsuits against PlayStation 3 hackers, the CBC said. However, Anonymous has denied playing any role in the hack.
