Dish Network attracts multiple class-action lawsuits from investors over February cyber attack

American satellite broadcast provider Dish Network has attracted multiple class action lawsuits from investors for allegedly making “materially false and misleading statements” concerning a cyber incident it suffered in February.

On April 3, New York-based law firm Levi & Korsinsky filed a lawsuit on behalf of the investors of Dish Network Corporation in the District Court of Colorado. The lawsuit is relevant to investors who acquired securities in Dish Network between February 22, 2021, and February 27, 2023.

In February, the American satellite broadcast provider reportedly suffered a technical issue that resulted in the company’s website and application being temporarily unavailable. Initially, Dish Network said that it was “experiencing a system issue” and that it was working hard to resolve the matter.

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company later said that the network outage was a result of a cyber incident.

“The corporation immediately activated its incident response and business continuity plans designed to contain, assess and remediate the situation. The services of cybersecurity experts and outside advisors were retained to assist in the evaluation of the situation. The corporation has determined that the outage was due to a cybersecurity incident and notified appropriate law enforcement authorities,” the company said.

Confirming that the company suffered a ransomware attack, Dish Network added, “On February 27, 2023, the corporation became aware that certain data was extracted from the corporation’s IT systems as part of this incident. It is possible the investigation will reveal that the extracted data includes personal information.

“The measures described above are continuing while the corporation, with the assistance of third-party experts and advisors, investigates the extent of the cybersecurity incident.”

The lawsuit filed by Dish Network’s investors alleges that the company made “false and misleading” statements “at all relevant times.”

The allegations against the company are as follows:

1. The Company overstated its operational efficiency and maintained deficient cybersecurity and information technology infrastructure.
2. As a result of the foregoing, the Company was unable to properly secure customer data, leaving it vulnerable to access by malicious third parties.
3. The foregoing cybersecurity deficiencies also both rendered Dish’s operations susceptible to widespread service outages and hindered the Company’s ability to respond to such outages
4. As a result, the company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

Several other law firms, such as Bernstein Liebhard, The Rosen Law Firm, and Bragar Eagel & Squire are representing investors of Dish Network and have filed class action lawsuits against the company in the District Court of Colorado.