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Go figure: the recent PSN data breach has prompted a class action suit against Sony. Filed in a California district court by the Rothken law firm, the 22-page complaint accuses Sony of failing to adequately secure the sensitive information of its users. The company revealed Wednesday that it stored the contact information, age, location, and usernames/passwords of some 77 million PSN accounts in an unencrypted state. Hackers gained access to this data during a security breach that has left PSN offline since last week.
The filing asserts that some PSN users have begun to experience losses from fraudulent use of credit card information swiped in the breach, but we're not sure how accurate that is. Many users have reported that their financial accounts have been fraudulently charged in recent days, but Sony has repeatedly stated that there is no evidence to suggest credit card numbers were taken. Furthermore, the company kept credit information encrypted on its servers, so we don't know what to make of users' claims just yet. Feel free to chime in if you've been affected.
According to the filing, Sony's negligence violates the Payment Card Industry Standard, a regulation that protects consumers from having their credit card and transaction information stored without the proper security requirements. The suit blames Sony for not informing customers that their data was being stored by insecure methods. It also accuses the company of taking an unreasonably long time to announce the data breach in an official capacity, leaving users with insufficient time to cancel credit cards and change passwords.
"Sony’s breach of its customers' trust is staggering," said Rothken co-counsel J.R. Parker. "Sony promised its customers that their information would be kept private. One would think that a large multinational corporation like Sony has strong protective measures in place to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of personal information, including credit card information. Apparently, Sony doesn't." The firm seeks compensation for the time and money users spent for credit monitoring and replacement -- not to mention a new pair of underwear.
User Comments: 43
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fimbles said:
Well sony.... How do you feel about the whole client server ownership situation now?
I reccomend releasing a rap song on you tube entitled " Bite the hand that feeds you"
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recipe7 said:
Wow.
Shouldn't they allow Sony to find the real culprits rather than steal more things from them, in this case, money?
Or instead, sue those involved.
WOW
Then you pass me the PS3 KeyCode and they took everything they can from you... Does you really think this is bad?
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End users will likely see no compensation at all for such a lawsuit, this is just another fine example of the Great US of A and its land of the free and home of the blood thirsty lawyers... But hopefully this case gets thrown out of court for being so pointless. Well not pointless but purposeless, suing Sony now for something like this helps no one.
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he can you sell me your old ps3 ?
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Wow.Yes, they should free Sony of any obligation towards guarding their customer's person information, thus permitting them to search for the "real criminals".
Shouldn't they allow Sony to find the real culprits rather than steal more things from them, in this case, money?
This is exactly what happened in the verdict of the OJ Simpson trial! OJ was set free to search for the, "real killer", of his ex wife and her boyfriend. OJ now seeks to bring the "real killer" to justice, far and wide, on the golf courses of America...!
They should also free BP from any indemnity for the Gulf Oil Spill. They way they'd be free to search for the "real source" of the oil leak.
Or instead, sue those involved.This just gets deeper and deeper... "Those involved", (in the hack), probably don't have any money, that's possibly why they tried to steal people's personal information in the first place.Besides, the hacker's should be, or are, being sought pursuant to criminal charges.
WOWWOW indeed! If I were going to post an opinion as "controversial" as yours, I would have logged in as a guest. GO SONY....! (That's a NOT)! -
OJ now seeks to bring the "real killer" to justice, far and wide, on the golf courses of America...!
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ROFL @ the comic....best description of Sony as a whole. Nice thinking there Sony, but I guess that's what you get for FREE online play. Nothing in this time comes for free, always going to pay a price for that term in general....Free.
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Darkshadoe said:
@gwailo247 - I couldn't get your link to work. I don't know if it was the link or the site. I'm guessing you were linking to this:
On December 5, 2008, Simpson was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison with the possibility of parole in about 9 years. On September 4, 2009, the Nevada Supreme Court denied a request for bail during Simpson's appeal. In October 2010, the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. He is now serving his sentence as Nevada Department of Corrections inmate #1027820 at the Lovelock Correctional Center.
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@gwailo247 - I couldn't get your link to work. I don't know if it was the link or the site. I'm guessing you were linking to this:
On December 5, 2008, Simpson was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison with the possibility of parole in about 9 years. On September 4, 2009, the Nevada Supreme Court denied a request for bail during Simpson's appeal. In October 2010, the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. He is now serving his sentence as Nevada Department of Corrections inmate #1027820 at the Lovelock Correctional Center.
Actually it was a link to OJ's web page in the Nevada penal system:
[link]
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this is sony s way of an excuse to finally charge for the use of psn and probably let the hackers in now they can say we need the extra cash to make the psn more sucure!! plus xbox hasloads of hackers last week some guy hijacked my mates sons account and he had to beg to get it back after the guy had bought games and downloaded them charging his sisters card!!! but xbox hasnt switched the xbl off and you have to pay! also for a company like sony youd expect better this my 3rd console that just seem to brake after a year costing me a rm and a leg and at games costing £45 each and people mainly useing the online function youd think it would be fixed sooner basicly sony are poop but there the best at the moment and will have to put up with
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Guest
on April 29, 2011
8:27 PM
"Compensation is for people that lost something. What did we lose? The ability to play online for a couple of weeks? I can still play locally and my credit card hasnt been breached in any way. Who exactly is the "class" in this lawsuit? Sony offers me a free service that is currently broken. I guess they can pay me for the down time. What exactly is 14 days worth of free worth these days?"
Is on-line play really free? You pay $300+ USD for a console, $40+ USD for a game plus plus shipping and taxes, pay for internet services, some ppl pay for games by credit card on-line through PSN and even buy game extras like map packs for on-line play. They should be able to do so with peace of mind that Sony will secure that information at their end. A lot more is at stake here than just 14 days of "free play". Identity & credit card information as well as trust in Sony is on the line.
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Credit Card info has definitely been compromised. I live in the western US and recently had 3 charges totaling over 500 dollars from 3 locations in Georgia... So much for Sony's encryption of the Credit Card info.
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@gwailo247 - I couldn't get your link to work. I don't know if it was the link or the site. I'm guessing you were linking to this:I forgot about that...:o But, he was searching the golf courses of America. I think he got himself convicted because he wanted to search for the real killer in prison. Come to think of it, some low security federal prisons may have 9 hole golf courses.
On December 5, 2008, Simpson was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison with the possibility of parole in about 9 years. On September 4, 2009, the Nevada Supreme Court denied a request for bail during Simpson's appeal. In October 2010, the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. He is now serving his sentence as Nevada Department of Corrections inmate #1027820 at the Lovelock Correctional Center.
(Those sentences should have rightly been a paragraph each, as in reading it back, I've noticed they have nothing to do with each other).
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The lawsuit would be justified if Sony did not meet the compliances that Publicly Listed companies that deal with and store credit card numbers
PCI Compliance
If they did any of the following they are liable
-They stored the Credit Card numbers unencrypted in a database
-They stored the Credit Card numbers on a database directly accessible from Internet (only their servers should have access)
-The Application Server hosting public facing PSN web interface also housed database services/data.
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I forgot about that...:o But, he was searching the golf courses of America. I think he got himself convicted because he wanted to search for the real killer in prison. Come to think of it, some low security federal prisons may have 9 hole golf courses.
(Those sentences should have rightly been a paragraph each, as in reading it back, I've noticed they have nothing to do with each other).
He'll end up stabbing himself in the shower with a sharpened toothbrush.
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I had to get a new debit card and I lost several hundred dollars...**** you Sony...just **** you.
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Thats what you get for suing individuals........They sue back..**** Sony ..your updates suck and limit everything..Viva Anon
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Focusing on the fact that the service is free misses the real problem.
If you understand the cost of identity theft, you understand the point of the lawsuit. See the text of the class action complaint. There was a breach of security, and a "loss of personal and credit card data stored on SONY's servers." Sony had a duty to keep that information secure, which they failed to do.
Finally, by making Sony pay damages, it gives them an incentive to be more careful.
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