In
a
class
action
lawsuit,
the
American
Bar
Association
(ABA)
has
been
accused
of
“grossly
fail[ing]
to
comply
with
security
standards”
and
causing
a
data
breach
that
affected
approximately
1.5
million
people.
The
data
breach,
which
occurred
in
March
2023,
saw
a
malicious
actor
gain
access
to
the
ABA’s
systems
and
steal
the
data
of
approximately
1.4
million
members.
The
data
stolen
included
personal
information
such
as
name,
phone
number,
address
and
email
address.
The
lawsuit
also
alleges
that
financial
information
was
stolen
during
the
breach.
The
plaintiff
has
accused
the
ABA
of
causing
and
enabling
the
data
breach
by
“knowing[ly]
violati[ng]
of
its
obligations
to
abide
by
best
practices
and
industry
standards
in
protecting
customers’
personal
information”.
They
also
claimed
the
ABA
“grossly
failed
to
comply
with
security
standards…
all
in
an
effort
to
save
money
by
cutting
corners
on
security
measures”
that
may
have
mitigated
or
prevented
the
breach.
The
lawsuit
goes
on
to
accuse
the
ABA
of
failing
to
inform
those
affected
of
the
breach
both
of
the
breach
itself
and
the
extent
of
it.
This,
it
says,
prevented
those
affected
by
the
breach
from
adequately
protecting
themselves.
As
of
the
time
of
writing,
the
ABA
has
not
formally
addressed
the
class
action
lawsuit.
Samsung
faces
class
action
lawsuit
following
data
breach
In
September
2022,
Samsung
was
hit
with
a
class
action
lawsuit
following
a
data
breach
in
July
of
that
year,
which
saw
the
company’s
US
servers
hacked
and
customer
data
accessed.
Samsung
confirmed
on
August
4,
2022
that
“name,
contact
and
demographic
information,
date
of
birth
and
product
registration
information”
may
have
been
accessed
by
the
hackers.
The
lawsuit
was
filed
with
the
US
District
Court
for
Nevada
on
September
6
by
Shelby
Harmer
“on
behalf
of
Samsung’s
customers
whose
personally
identifiable
information
was
stolen
by
cybercriminals”.
The
lawsuit
alleges
that
Samsung
violated
privacy
and
contract
laws
as
well
as
failing
to
notify
affected
parties
in
a
timely
manner
and
safeguard
customer’s
personal
and
identifying
information.
The
lawsuit
also
alleges
that
Harmer
and
all
others
who
were
affected
by
the
breach
“are
currently
at
a
very
high
risk
of
misuse
of
their
private
information”.
Harmer
is
suing
Samsung
for
breach
of
contract,
negligence
and
invasion
of
privacy,
and
is
seeking
certification
of
the
class
action
lawsuit,
a
jury
trial
and
damages,
costs
and
fees.
About Author
