Comcast Customer Data Stolen in a Ransomware Attack
US telco, Comcast Cable Communications has raised alarm over a cyber attack that led to theft of personal data belonging to more than 230,000 customers. According to TechCrunch, Comcast customer data was stolen following a security breach that occurred in February 2024.
The cyberattack was targeted at Comcast’s third-party debt collection service provider, Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS).
Ransomware Attack
Comcast filed the cyberattack incident with Maine’s attorney general on October 4, 2024. Although the FBCS is yet to reveal the type of cyberattack it suffered, Comcast’s filing shows it was ransomware.
“From February 14 and February 26, 2024, an unauthorized party gained access to FBCS’s computer network and some of its computers. During this time, the unauthorized party downloaded data from FBCS systems and encrypted some systems as part of a ransomware attack,” Comcast says in its filing.
Comcast says it learned about the security breach in March 2024. At the time, the FBCS said none of its customer data had been compromised in the security breach. But in July 2024, the debt collection company notified the telco that its customer data had actually been affected.
The telco says data belonging to 237,703 customers who registered around 2021 was accessed by hackers during the attack. Comcast said that customer names, social security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, ID numbers, and account numbers were stolen in the debt collection data breach.
The Comcast customer data breach comes days after thousands of Americans were left without mobile phone network on September 30 Monday following a disruption on Verizon’s wireless network. On October 5, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese hackers breached US broadband provider networks in a cyberattack that targeted communication infrastructure.
Magnitude of the Attack
Initially, reports indicated that the cyberattack had affected about 1.9 million individuals. Investigations show that data belonging to as many as 4.2 million individuals may have been compromised in the attack. The FBCS confirmed these figures in its filing with the attorney general’s office at Maine.
Besides Comcast, other companies that have confirmed data theft due to the FBCS security breach include CF Medical and Truist Bank. In September 2024, CF Medical said that hackers accessed personal and customer health data belonging to over 620,000 individuals during the attack.
Truist Bank is yet to confirm the actual number of individuals affected by the breach but says it may have affected a substantial number of its customers. The bank, which has more than 2700 branches in 15 states and 40,000 employees, filed the incident with the attorney general’s office in California. Last month, the bank sent letters to affected customers informing them of the breach.
The bank noted that the type of data affected varied but mostly included customer names, account numbers, addresses, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. The bank suffered another data breach in October 2023 when cybercriminals published stolen data on a hacking forum.
Customer Advice
Comcast’s data breach exposes the risks associated with third-party service providers and the consequences of data breaches for companies that handle sensitive customer data.
Following the Comcast ransomware attack, the telco has advised its customers on steps to take to guard against identity theft. Comcast has its customers to check their account statements regularly and keep tabs on suspicious activity.
The company is also offering complimentary identity theft protection services to customers for a year. These services include conducting comprehensive credit monitoring and protection to enable customers to remain vigilant against fraud.
