Sony Pictures Entertainment has been hit with a class-action lawsuit as a result of it having stolen the personal data of over 47,000 employees.
Ex-employees Michael Corona, who worked at the company from 2004 to 2007, and Christina Mathis, who was there between 2000 and 2002, filed the lawsuit at a California federal court on Monday.
The document claimed the data leak, perpetrated on the 24 November, was “an epic nightmare, much better suited to a cinematic thriller than to real life”.
It added that the cyber-intrusion resulted in the “[leak of employees’] most sensitive data, including over 47,000 Social Security numbers, employment files including salaries, medical information, and anything else that Sony touched,” adding that the information is likely in the hands of criminals
The 45 page document blamed Sony’s inability to “secure its computer systems, servers, and databases (‘Network’), despite weaknesses that it has known about for years.”
The lawsuit also cited a leaked Sony document where it made a “business decision to accept the risk” of losses associated with being hacked after learning about an earlier intrusion.
Representing the plaintiffs is law firm Keller Rohrback which is pursuing damages and recompense for the alleged disclosure of medical information.
The hacking group ‘Guardians of Peace’ threatened the premiere of ‘the Interview’ with an attack it likened to 9/11 in a move which saw the event cancelled.
