Sony is finally being sued for the breach of the Playstation Network. As I predicted in one of my earlier blogs about Sony’s network being down, it was inevitable someone would find some legal move to take a shot at Sony for not properly handling the data. The suit was filed today on behalf of Kristopher Johns, 36, of Birmingham, Ala., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Johns accuses Sony of not taking “reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users.” He also believes Sony took too long to notify him and other customers that their personal information had been exposed. Because of that, the complaint alleges, Sony did not allow its customers “to make an informed decision as to whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions.”
The lawsuit is asking for monetary compensation and free credit card monitoring, and is seeking class action status.
Johns’ complaint echoes the concerns of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. Blumenthal yesterday wrote a letter to Jack Tretton, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, saying he was troubled that the company had not notified customers sooner about the breach. He also called for Sony to provide affected customers with financial data security services, including free access to credit reporting services for two years to protect against identity theft.

If this does go class action who knows how big this could honestly get. I know I have a PSN account and I am certainly bothered by these troubling events. I will keep this story close at hand and update with new information as it comes forth.