Sony to pay US$8million for the hacked data

Sony had plans to release its movie “The Interview” showing the assassination of Kim Jong Un, the North Korean Leader. However, Sony was never able to release the movie officially as the computers of Sony were hacked into by the attackers who were protesting against the release of the movie. 

These hackers accessed the database of the company and leaked pirated version of the movie. They also leaked sensitive personal information of the employees of Sony and posted them online.

The leaked data contained personal information of the employees resulting in employees filing a legal suit against the company claiming that they have faced financial losses due to the leak of their personal information. The employees are scared that their leaked personal information can be misused and accordingly they have stepped up their personal credit monitoring.

The United States investigators believed that the hack was conducted by North Korean hackers, however a group that calls itself “Guardians of Peace” has claimed the responsibility of the attack on the computers at Sony.

North Korean government has denied the reports that the hackers were backed by the government. But, it is important to note that before the actual hack, the North Korean officials had warned Sony against the release of the movie by calling it a terrorist activity and if the movie is released the company will have to face serious repercussions.

Due to the hacking incident, Sony has to pay US$8 million as the settlement amount. The settlement amount includes $2.5 million to be paid to the employees, both current and former whose information was leaked. The amount paid to individual employees is US$10,000. Apart from that the company has to shell out US$2 million for protecting its employees from credit faults with an amount of US$1,000 for each employee. US$3.5 million will be paid for the legal fees that the company has incurred due to the lawsuit.