The settlement reached by Sony Pictures Entertainment and ex-employees who sued over last year’s massive cyber-attack includes additional years of identity protection services, a $2 million fund to compensate for unreimbursed expenses and up to $2.5 million for losses from ID theft. The terms of the settlement were disclosed in a filing with U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Monday. (Variety)
In a memo to staff Tuesday, Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton called the agreement “an important, positive step forward in putting the cyber-attack firmly behind us.” Sony Corp. CEO Kazuo Hirai told a technology conference on Tuesday that following the hack, the movie studio has “come out more resilient, more strong and they have a very good management team in place now.” Hirai said there wasn’t much of a business impact from the hack, although he said employee morale was hurt for a short time. (NBC News / AP)
Sony’s security systems and internal files were torn open on Nov. 24 last year, with everything from executive emails, budgets, development slates and personal information on an estimated 3,000 former and current Sony employees exposed. Studio and federal officials ultimately put the blame on a North Korean-originated hack steaming from the studio’s distribution of The Interview, which was pulled, then put online and back in movie houses. The first lawsuits over the hack were filed on Dec. 15 last year, beginning a continuous fight between the plaintiffs and the studio—including Sony trying to get the actions tossed out of court. (Deadline)