Stratfor Hack Victims File $50M Class Action Lawsuit

Geopolitical analysis company Stratfor has been hit with a $50 million class action lawsuit after hackers stole credit card information from 90,000 user accounts last December. Credit for the Stratfor attacks was claimed by “Anonymous,” the hacking group responsible for WikiLeaks and other government hacks. Anonymous said the goal of the attacks was to use the stolen credit card information to make $1 million in donations to charity.

Austin-based Stratfor is a well-known publisher of international geopolitical analysis. It’s thousands of customers and users include employees of the military, law enforcement agencies, as well as various U.S. intelligence agencies.

The Stratfor class action lawsuit is seeking more than $50 million in damages for 90,000 users who lost credit card information from their accounts as well as 75,000 who lost personal information. Information from 5.2 million email messages was also exposed during the December 7 and December 24 attacks.

Plaintiffs claim in the Stratfor class action lawsuit that the company failed “to take reasonable steps to secure” its computer systems from outside attack. It also claims Stratfor kept information about the hacking attack secret from its customers.

Stratfor vigorously denies the allegations, saying it notified subscribers on December 24, the day the hacking became public, as well as on December 25 and 28. Stratfor has since filed a countersuit, arguing that the class action lawsuit should be filed in Texas, not New York.

In a written statement, Stratfor said that it “believes the class action lawsuit is without merit. Stratfor looks forward to telling its side of the story, at the appropriate time and place. The countersuit filed Monday is intended to ensure the issues are heard in the appropriate place — Texas, where Stratfor is headquartered and where the hack occurred.”

Stratfor said it has been working with the FBI since the December 7 attack and hired security consultants to investigate the attack and prevent future attacks on its site. The company said it also made sure, immediately after the first attack, that all credit card companies were notified by the FBI with the credit card information for all victims of the attack.

On December 28, Stratfor offered its customers free identity protection services from Austin-based CSID.