Comcast Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (COM0835508112525)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Comcast breach identified under incident ID COM0835508112525.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Comcast's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/comcast, the number of followers: 706769, the industry type: Telecommunications and the number of employees: 60212 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 700 and after the incident was 653 with a difference of -47 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Comcast and their customers.

Comcast (CMCSA) recently reported "Comcast Vendor Data Breach Exposes 237,000 Customers' Personal Information", a noteworthy cybersecurity incident.

Entertainment giant Comcast (CMCSA) faced regulatory action after a third-party debt-collection vendor, Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS), suffered a data breach in 2024.

The disruption is felt across the environment, and exposing personal information of ~237,000 customers, with nearly 237,000 records at risk, plus an estimated financial loss of {'regulatory_fine': '$1.5 million'}.

In response, and began remediation that includes new compliance plan with stricter vendor oversight rules, and stakeholders are being briefed through public statement denying blame but committing to improved cybersecurity policies.

The case underscores how resolved (FCC settlement reached), teams are taking away lessons such as Importance of rigorous third-party vendor oversight and cybersecurity compliance for customer data protection, and recommending next steps like Enhance vendor risk assessment protocols, Implement continuous monitoring of third-party security practices and Strengthen contractual obligations for data protection with vendors.

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Trusted Relationship (T1199) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including third-party vendor data breach at FBCS (debt-collection partner), and comcast had engaged FBCS until 2022. Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Data from Local System (T1005) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including personal information of ~237,000 customers exposed via vendor, and data from Comcast’s internet, TV, and home security services. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol: Exfiltration to Cloud Storage (T1048.003) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including vendor data breach implying unauthorized transfer of Comcast customer data, and fBCS had filed for bankruptcy before the exposure was revealed (potential unsecured data handling). Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Data Encrypted for Impact (T1486) with lower confidence (5%), supported by evidence indicating identity theft risk such as high (though no explicit ransomware mentioned) and Resource Hijacking (T1496) with moderate to high confidence (85%), with evidence including personal information exposed for potential fraud/theft, and fCC imposed $1.5M fine for inadequate vendor oversight. Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts (T1078.004) with moderate confidence (60%), with evidence including vendor (FBCS) had access to Comcast customer data (implied legitimate access abuse), and vendor’s bankruptcy potentially compromising data security practices and Indicator Removal: File Deletion (T1070.004) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating breach disclosed in August 2024 (delayed detection suggests potential log tampering/evidence removal by vendor). These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.