Last year’s Sony Pictures hack was, by any measure, a calamitous event for the movie studio that left in its wake a trail of devastation, not to mention plenty of red faces.
This week it appears that a lawsuit brought against Sony by eight former employees caught up in the incident has been settled, though the terms have not been revealed.
The LA Times said Wednesday court papers show “an agreement in principle” was reached earlier this week, effectively bringing the curtain down on a proposed class-action suit brought by the same plaintiffs.
Following the damaging security breach that saw hackers nab masses of data – among it personal details of current and former employees, unreleased movies, and email messages exposing the inner workings of Hollywood – a number of people came forward alleging Sony had failed to take the necessary measures to protect personal data held on the company’s servers.
Two lead plaintiffs accused the movie studio of failing to “secure its computer systems, servers and databases, despite weaknesses that it has known about for years,” adding that Sony had “subsequently failed to timely protect confidential information of its current and former employees from law-breaking hackers.”
It was revealed shortly after the hack came to light that a good deal of the stolen information was contained within spreadsheet files that had no password protection.
The perpetrators claimed its attack on Sony’s computer systems was in response to its backing of The Interview, a Seth Rogen comedy centering on a CIA plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Describing it as a “movie of terrorism,” they demanded Sony cancel its Christmas Day launch. Sony initially caved, though following widespread criticism gradually rolled out the movie via various platforms.
Early on in its investigation, the U.S. government pointed the finger at North Korea, though some security experts said it was by no means clear who was behind it. The North Korean regime denied involvement, though described the hack as “a righteous deed.” No one has yet been charged in connection with the incident.
Sony’s boss called the highly damaging security breach “vicious,” top executives resigned, and the fallout, evidenced by this week’s news and other recent events, still affects the company today.
