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Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Law - "Angie's List claims data theft"
From a report by Daniel Lee in today's Indianapolis Star:
Indianapolis-based consumer rating service Angie's List is suing a rival startup, claiming its founder stole thousands of files from Angie's List Web service in an effort to start his own company.The suit alleges that Christopher "Kit" Cody -- the founder of Washington, D.C.-based Trustys.com -- joined Angie's List as a regular member, then used an automated "bot" software program to harvest service-provider reports, ratings and other information then used for Trustys.com. Cody's attorney disputes the allegations.
The lawsuit raises what cyber-security experts say is one of the most common and costly computer security issues: Someone with legitimate access to a company's data misusing that information. * * *
A hearing in the case, filed in Marion Superior Court, is scheduled for next month.
According to the lawsuit, Cody, through his Angie's List membership, accessed 9,278 service-provider files from the Angie's List site using a "bot" program in multiple sessions. In one instance, between midnight and 2 a.m. Dec. 3, he used to program to access 2,451 profiles, according to the suit.
Reed emphasized that personal and financial information of Angie's List customers or service providers was not compromised.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 14, 2009 08:06 AM
Posted to General Law Related