Dish Network investors have filed multiple class-action lawsuits alleging pay-TV providers made “materially false and misleading statements” about their cybersecurity posture.
The lawsuit concerns investors who acquired the company’s securities between February 22, 2021 and February 27, 2023.
For more information on data breach lawsuits, see this article: Marriott hit by another class action lawsuit after breach.
According to Bernstein Liebhard, one of the law firms involved, plaintiffs allege that Dish Network failed to disclose:
- Exaggerated operational efficiency and maintained “poor cybersecurity and information technology infrastructure”
- Failure to adequately protect customer data, leaving it vulnerable to malicious third parties
- Security flaws made its operations susceptible to major outages, negatively impacting incident response
The Colorado-based company, which also owns wireless service provider Boost Mobile and streaming provider Sling, was behind an incident on Feb. 24 that saw its website and app fail and call center phone lines down. It claimed there was a “network outage”.
Four days later, a security incident was confirmed as the cause of the outage. Ransomware was the culprit, which he finally confirmed days later in files filed with the SEC.
The filing alleges that data, which may have included personal customer information, was also obtained during the incident.
Several other law firms represent the plaintiffs, including The Rosen Law Firm, Levi & Korsinsky, and Bragar Eagel & Squire. This case highlights the potential financial, reputational and legal risks companies face after a security breach.
Such lawsuits can significantly increase potential post-infringement costs. IBM calculates the global average cost of a data breach today to be around $4.4 million, a record high. However, in the US he is more than twice as big ($9.4 million).
