The Potential Costs of Hacking

When meat is hacked, the hacker might lose a finger. When a computer system is hacked, the costs are likely to fall on the hackee (if there is such a word) that owns, or is responsible for, the system.

Readers may recall the Sony Pictures hacking case of a few years ago in which a large volume of sensitive employee data was grabbed, reportedly by North Korean agents.

There is a news report of a substantial settlement OK'd by a court of payments to Sony employees by their employer.* Note that over the years, there have been hacks into UC computer systems that have expose employee info. And there was a major hack into the computer system of a past health insurer for UC which also potentially exposed sensitive employee data. Up to now, the costs to UC have been limited in terms of (voluntary) reimbursements for things such as credit monitoring. The Sony episode suggests the potential for greater voluntary and involuntary costs to UC in future episodes.
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*http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/04/06/59310/judge-approves-settlement-in-sony-pictures-hacking/