The situation around the St. Petersburg company Web Hosting – better known by as Valuehost – is hotting up. Shortly after news of a database with around 100,000 clients’ details being made available online, comes the likelihood of mass court actions. These actions come from private citizens who cite inadequate service levels resulting in breach of contract. The InfoWatch analysis center sees the underlying cause as the company’s lack of a data-protection solution and the presence of internal threats to information integrity.
A month ago, the InfoWatch site reported on the appearance on the Internet of a database of Web Hosting employee passwords and logins. And while it is not clear whether the information is genuine, it has led to an exodus of clients. But the plot thickens. The company is demanding the equivalent of 30 USD to annul each existing contract and allow the customer to change his DNS.
Lawyers for LawMix.ru are offering to help victims get their due and extract themselves from such an inferior service free of charge. At the end of the day, hosting services are subject to consumer rights laws. LawMix.ru helps users to register their actions against the company for free and then will represent the aggrieved party in court on a fee basis. All applications are submitted by e-mail.
Denis Zenkin, InfoWatch’s Marketing Director said, “The only thing which will save Valuehost is if the database can be shown to be fake. Then it will be easier for the court to find in favor of the hosting company. But even so, the situation has got to be extremely unpleasant for the company. Suspicion about information leaks has wide social repercussions, negatively impacting on business. The loss of long-time clients is just the tip of the iceberg. The real challenges are yet to come…”
