Law360, New York (March 8, 2013, 1:11 PM EST) -- As recent cyberattacks on Apple and Facebook demonstrate, hacking and potential data security breaches are on the rise and not likely to dissipate any time soon. Diverse companies such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Michael's Stores, Sony, TJX and Heartland Payment Systems have been victimized and subsequently named in follow-on putative consumer class actions, to the dismay of in-house counsel and their clients. After nearly every reported data breach, plaintiffs will inevitably commence litigation alleging that their sensitive personal information, such as social security numbers, phone numbers, passwords, birth dates and/or credit card numbers, were improperly accessed, used or potentially used....