Lawsuit: Honeywell cyberattack exposes personal information of thousands
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and an unspecified amount in damages.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – The Charlotte-based company Honeywell is being sued after a June data breach reportedly exposed personal information.
The class action complaint was filed Friday in U.S. District Court by attorneys for Debbie Jefferson, individually and on behalf of “thousands of other similarly situated persons in the massive and preventable cyberattack,” court documents state.
The plaintiff alleges that despite Honeywell, a technology and manufacturing company, discovering the cyberattack as early as June 3, victims of the data breach were not informed until Sept. 14.
“As a result of the Data Breach, Plaintiff heeded Defendant’s warnings and spent time dealing with the consequences of the Data Breach, which included time spent verifying the legitimacy of the Notice and self-monitoring their accounts and credit reports to ensure no fraudulent activity has occurred,” court documents stated. “This time has been lost forever and cannot be recaptured.”
Jefferson, the representative plaintiff, said in the lawsuit she suffered lost time, annoyance and inconvenience because of the data breach.
She also states she has anxiety and increased concerns for the loss of privacy, “as well as anxiety over the impact of cybercriminals accessing, using, and selling” her personal information, according to court documents.
The lawsuit alleges that those impacted by the data breach “remain in the dark” about what data was stolen, the type of malware used and what steps are being taken to secure their personal information in the future.
“Thus, Representative Plaintiff and Class Members are left to speculate as to where their PII (personally identifiable information) ended up, who has used it, and for what potentially nefarious purposes,” court documents state.
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and an unspecified amount in damages.
WBTV has reached out to Honeywell seeking comment on the lawsuit.
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