Epic court battle coming over Home Depot data breach

[Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2014/11/07/epic-court-battle-coming-over-home-depot-data.html

Battle lines are being formed in what's shaping up to be an epic court
fight over The Home Depot Inc.'s data breach.

On one side is the world's largest home-improvement retailer (NYSE: HD),
with more than 2,200 stores, 300,000 employees, and $79 billion in annual
sales.

On the other side are the lawyers representing all of the individuals and
financial institutions who claim they were harmed by the data breach.

At least 30 class-action lawsuits have been filed against Home Depot in
federal courts across the country. All allege that the company failed to
properly safeguard its customers' personal financial data in the data
breach, which was confirmed by Home Depot on Sept. 8. To see a list of the
lawsuits, click here.

Home Depot previously said the data breach exposed 56 million credit card
accounts. The company reported Nov. 6 that about 53 million email addresses
were also taken during the breach.

Home Depot and its lawyers, along with the lawyers representing those
allegedly harmed by the data breach, are now preparing for the upcoming
legal showdown that will determine Home Depot's liability for the data
breach and the damages it may have to pay.The company's Nov. 6 update on
the data breach may contain a hint that the company's legal defense
strategy could be to hold its technology providers accountable: The
company's announcement noted that "Criminals used a third-party vendor's
user name and password to enter the perimeter of Home Depot's network."

The stakes for the company in the upcoming court battle are huge. Home
Depot has not yet responded to any of the lawsuits. That is, the company
hasn't denied or admitted any of the charges.

Many of the class-action lawsuits filed against Home Depot will almost
certainly be combined into one federal court action, what's known as
"multidistrict litigation." The company's lawyers and those representing
the data breach's victims are now going through court motions to determine
which federal court will hear the case, and which individual judge will
oversee it.

Home Depot filed a document with the court on Nov. 3 laying out how the
company would like the court battle to be handled. To read it in full,
click here.

The company, represented by attorneys from Atlanta law firm King & Spalding
LLP, has asked that the case be fought out in federal court in Atlanta,
since the city is the home of Home Depot, is the location of the majority
of the witnesses in the case, and is home of the world's busiest airport.

Home Depot opposes having the case heard in Florida, which is favored by
five plaintiffs suing the company.

Two credit unions have also suggested that the cases involving consumers
could be separated from those involving financial institutions, into two
separate cases. Home Depot's lawyers oppose this, saying in a court
document that "centralization in front of a single judge will be more
efficient than requiring two judges to become familiar with the underlying
facts."

Six of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits have asked that the combined case be
heard by Judge Amy Totenberg of the federal court in Atlanta. Home Depot's
lawyers oppose this, saying The Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation
"should reject certain plaintiffs' improper attempt to judge shop, and the
assignment of these cases should be left to the Panel and the Northern
District of Georgia as required by statute."

_______________________________________________
Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () datalossdb org)
Archived at http://seclists.org/dataloss/
Unsubscribe at http://lists.osvdb.org/mailman/listinfo/dataloss
For inquiries regarding use or licensing of data, e-mail
        sales () riskbasedsecurity com 

Supporters:

Risk Based Security (http://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/)
YourCISO is an affordable SaaS solution that provides a comprehensive information security program that ensures focus 
on the right security.  If you need security help or want to provide real risk reduction for your clients contact us!