A recent court filing by Comcast claims that the personal data of more than 230,000 customers was affected by a data breach at a third-party debt collection company acting on behalf of Comcast

The filing, discovered by Engadget, revealed that 237,703 customers were affected by the hack

As far back as February 2024, Pennsylvania-based debt collection company Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS) suffered a ransomware attack, Initially, FBCS told Comcast that no customer data had been damaged in the breach

However, when TechCrunch reported in July that the company had notified Comcast that its personal customer information had been compromised, FBCS changed its tune

According to the report, the malware was able to steal addresses, birth dates, ID numbers, Social Security numbers, names, and Comcast account numbers The stolen data apparently belongs to customers who signed up with Comcast “around 2021” Comcast claims it no longer uses FBCS for debt collection

“Between February 14 and February 26, 2024, an unauthorized accessor gained access to FBCS's computer network and certain computers During this time, the unauthorized accessor downloaded data from FBCS's systems and encrypted some systems as part of a ransomware attack”

“Between February 14 and February 26, 2024, an unauthorized access gained access to FBCS's computer network and certain computers During this time, the unauthorized accessor downloaded data from FBCS systems and encrypted some systems as part of a ransomware attack,” FBCS told Comcast

At this time, it is unclear who attacked FBCS's systems, which the debt collection company calls “rogue actors” Apparently, more than 4 million people in all were affected by the breach, not just Comcast customers Debt collection companies state that medical claims, health insurance information, and other identity verification data were also stolen

Hackers targeted debt collection companies because the people in their systems are least afraid of having their information stolen or held to ransom