Comcast has agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine to settle an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission into a February 2024 data breach.
The breach happened after attackers hacked into the systems of Financial Business and Consumer Solutions, a debt collection company that Comcast had stopped using two years earlier. The personal information of nearly 275,000 Comcast customers was exposed.
The FBCS breach was first believed to have affected 1.9 million people, but the number kept increasing. By June, it had grown to 3.2 million, and by July it reached 4.2 million. FBCS, which filed for bankruptcy before admitting to the breach in August 2024, informed Comcast on July 15 that customer data had been compromised. This happened five months after the attack, even though the company had told Comcast in March that none of its customers were affected.
The attackers stole personal and financial information between February 14 and February 26. This included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birthdates, and Comcast account numbers. The affected people were current or former users of Comcast’s Xfinity internet, TV, streaming, phone, and home security services.
As part of the agreement announced by the FCC, Comcast must now follow a stricter compliance plan. This includes stronger oversight of third-party vendors to ensure customer data is properly protected and disposed of when no longer needed, following the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984. Comcast must appoint a compliance officer, conduct vendor risk assessments every two years, file reports with the FCC twice a year for the next three years, and report any major violations within 30 days.
Comcast told Reuters that it was not responsible for the breach and has not admitted to any wrongdoing. The company emphasized that its own network was not hacked and that FBCS was contractually required to follow proper security measures. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from BleepingComputer.
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