Cybersecurity

Comcast: Data Breach Affected 237,000 Broadband Customers

Breach underscores risk of using third-party vendors

Ari Bertenthal

Oct 8, 2024 — 1 min read

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya published with permission.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2024 - Comcast, the largest internet service provider in the U.S., disclosed a data breach on the computer systems of a vendor that affected more than 237,000 of Comcast’s broadband customers.

The breach, which began on Feb. 14, 2024, and was discovered by the vendor and reported to Comcast, was disclosed by a representative of the company in a public letter on the web site of the Maine Attorney General. The breach involved vendor Financial Business and Consumer Solutions, a third-party debt collection agency.

The security incident occurred at FBCS and not at Xfinity or on Comcast systems, said the data breach report.

FBCS initially told Comcast that none of its user data had been compromised, though FBSC later notified the company in July that Comcast customer data had, in fact, been breached.

According to a data breach report compiled by Verizon, 15 percent of data breaches that occurred in 2023 involved a third party.

Data breaches can result in significant fines for ISPs as a result of FCC action.

Comcast had 32,068,000 broadband customers at the end of June 2024.

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Cybersecurity Comcast Data Breach FBCS Verizon Maine

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