'Our database was not as secure as it should have been': Hong Kong toymaker VTech likely to face class action lawsuits in US over data breach
Hong Kong toymaker likely to face numerous class-action lawsuits after data breach exposed profiles of millions of children and parents
Educational toymaker VTech is expected to face legal scrutiny in the United States after more than six million children's profiles were exposed by a cybersecurity breach at the Hong Kong-listed company last month.
"VTech will most likely be subject to a number of class-action lawsuits in the US on behalf of parents who fear the damage they will suffer as a result of the data breach," Paul Haswell, a partner at technology-focused international law firm Pinsent Masons, told the Post.
In a post on its website yesterday, VTech said 4.8 million parent accounts and 6.4 million related children's profiles were affected by the hack of its Learning Lodge app store customer database and Kid Connect servers.
Also affected were 235,708 parent and 227,705 children accounts at the company's Planet VTech online games platform.
The company had earlier reported that the profiles of more than 200,000 children were hacked on November 14 from its Learning Lodge website, where children download apps and electronic books.
"Regretfully, our database was not as secure as it should have been," VTech said. "Upon discovering the breach, we immediately conducted a comprehensive check and have taken thorough actions against future attacks."
This massive hack on VTech marks the biggest corporate cybersecurity breach in Hong Kong since 2011. It also ranks as the largest known targeted hack on children's data worldwide.