[BreachExchange] Judge Approves Sony Pictures Settlement to End Hacking Lawsuits

[Audrey McNeil]

http://patch.com/california/culvercity/judge-approves-sony-pictures-settlement-end-hacking-lawsuits

A federal judge Wednesday gave final approval to Sony Pictures'
multimillion-dollar settlement with former employees who sued the Culver
City studio over its failure to protect the personal information of its
workforce from computer hackers.

The settlement, approved by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner, gives
roughly 437,000 people impacted by the breach identity theft protection
from the time of the 2014 hack through 2017.

Sony also agreed to provide an optional service that will cover up to $1
million in losses and create a fund to cover any additional losses.

An exact figure for the settlement is not yet available, because a deadline
for workers to sign up for credit protection and reimbursement hasn't yet
passed.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in December 2014 -- a month after the
studio's computer system was hacked -- on behalf of eight ex-employees
alleging that Sony ignored warnings that its system was prone to attack.

Hackers began releasing sensitive data from Sony computers after the
massive security breach became public.

A group calling itself Guardians of Peace released data including thousands
of pages of emails from studio chiefs, salaries of top executives and
Social Security numbers of 47,000 current and former employees.

The cyberattack exposed employees to identity theft, embarrassed executives
and celebrities with the release of off-color emails and crippled the
studio's digital infrastructure.

Federal authorities said North Korea carried out the hacking attack in
response to the studio's film "The Interview," a dark comedy depicting the
assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

The studio initially canceled the planned opening of the film, but later
went ahead with the release, both in theaters and on various Internet
streaming services.
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