OVHcloud, the French cloud service provider, has been ordered to pay 250,000 euros to two companies that lost critical data during the fire that devastated their SBG2 data center in Strasbourg in March 2021. The Commercial Court of Lille Métropole ruled that OVHcloud had failed to meet its backup obligations and provided misleading information about the location of the data.
Fire and Security Failures
The fire at OVHcloud’s SBG2 data center, which occurred on March 10, 2021, resulted in the total loss of several servers. It is believed that the fire started due to an electrical failure that ignited a battery room, quickly spreading throughout the building and also affecting other facilities in the business park of Strasbourg. The incident caused significant damage to other data centers on the site, including SBG1.
Despite OVHcloud’s initial promises to release a report on the incident and fund fire prevention research, the company has refused to openly discuss the causes of the fire and has been criticized for lacking adequate fire prevention and cooling systems, among other failures.
Judicial Decision and Convictions
The Commercial Court of Lille Métropole has ruled that OVHcloud must pay 100,000 euros to Bati Courtage and 150,000 euros to Bluepad. Both companies had contracted backup services with OVHcloud, but during the fire, it was discovered that the backups were stored in the same data center as the active servers, resulting in the total loss of data.
Bati Courtage, which had paid for a Virtual Private Server (VPS) and an automated backup option, had to rebuild its website and customer network from old data. The company initially sued for over 6.5 million euros, although the court ultimately ruled it was entitled to a lesser compensation for data loss and associated damages.
On the other hand, Bluepad, which used a SaaS service and managed its own backup, sued OVHcloud after the company confirmed that its backup servers were also in the affected data center. Bluepad received 150,000 euros in compensation, covering various damages including loss of sales and moral damage.
Reactions and Legal Future
The court’s decision has been met with mixed reviews. In the case of Bati Courtage, OVHcloud’s liability exclusion clause was dismissed, considering that the backups should have been in a different location. However, in Bluepad’s case, the court did not grant compensation for the lack of fire safety measures, indicating that customers must bear certain risks.
Current Situation and Projections
Currently, OVHcloud is appealing the decisions and facing other legal cases related to the fire. The company, which has received a significant loan from the European Investment Bank and had a successful IPO, is opening new international facilities, but the total cost of the fire is estimated at 105 million euros.
OVHcloud has indicated its intention to appeal the decisions and remains committed to supporting its affected customers with commercial gestures and ongoing assistance. The company continues to face pressure to address security flaws and improve its infrastructure to prevent future incidents.
For affected customers who had not contracted automated backup services or operated their own backups, the situation is less favorable, with significant challenges in obtaining compensation for losses. The class action lawsuit led by Ziegler & Associates is ongoing, with hopes of favorable resolutions for those affected.
Source: DCD