eBay could face a raft of class action lawsuits, with the cost of the breach to probably running into billions of dollars.
Speaking to IT Security Guru, Dr Guy Bunker, cyber security analyst at Clearswift, said that as the information taken is “fantastic” for resetting passwords for accounts, this could cause problems for the auction website.
However he said that this would not spell the end of the company, pointing at the 2007 TK Maxx incident. “Then it was “oh my goodness, all those credit card numbers!” but they didn’t disappear and they are still going strong as the convenience of buying stuff cheaply far outweighed the fact that they may compromise your credit card details, especially when the credit card is insured by the provider,” he said. “So on eBay now, it is a case of reputation, but for the majority who are buying and selling things, the convenience outweighs the security risk.”
Commenting, Jonathan Armstrong, partner at Cordery, said that he didn’t think this would be the case, as the chances of class action law suits recovering billions of dollars are not great.
“eBay could lose more money with the drop in share price than in any litigation,” he said. “We know that security breaches and what a company does after having a breach can have a direct effect on the value of a company’s shares.”
