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Sony cut security staff before hacker attacks

Publisher faced with lawsuit highlighting its failures to protect customer information

A class action lawsuit filed this week alleges that Sony laid off security staff and failed to respond to smaller attacks in the run up to attacks on the PlayStation Network and the Sony Online Entertainment Network.

According to Reuters, the lawsuit cites a confidential witness and says employees from Sony Online Entertainment's Network Operations centre, which is responsible for preventing and handling attacks on data, were let go.

The lawsuit also argues that the same precautions used to safeguard company data, like firewalls, were not applied to customer data.

The suit was filed on Monday, and Sony has yet to comment on the case.

Around 77 million PlayStation Network and Qriocity accounts were compromised by the attacks, as well as the data of 25 million users of the Sony Online Entertainment PC games network.

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Rachel Weber avatar
Rachel Weber has been with GamesIndustry since 2011 and specialises in news-writing and investigative journalism. She has more than five years of consumer experience, having previously worked for Future Publishing in the UK.
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