Comcast Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (COM45102545112625)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Comcast breach identified under incident ID COM45102545112625.

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 472 and after the incident was 409 with a difference of -63 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 Corporation recently reported "Comcast Data Breach via Former Vendor FBCS Exposes 237,000 Customer Records", a noteworthy cybersecurity incident.

In a significant regulatory enforcement, Comcast Corporation agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine after a data breach at its former vendor, Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS), exposed sensitive personal information of approximately 237,000 current and former customers.

The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting FBCS computer network, and exposing names, addresses and Social Security numbers, with nearly 237,000 records at risk, plus an estimated financial loss of $1.5 million (FCC fine).

In response, teams activated the incident response plan, and began remediation that includes enhanced vendor oversight, stricter customer privacy protections and improved information security practices, while recovery efforts such as customer notifications and free identity theft protection (12-month credit monitoring) continue, and stakeholders are being briefed through public disclosure via FCC, customer notifications and advisories for two-factor authentication.

The case underscores how resolved (FCC settlement reached), teams are taking away lessons such as Importance of vetting third-party vendors for cybersecurity risks, Need for robust data security protocols in vendor contracts and Proactive customer support (e.g., credit monitoring) mitigates reputational damage, and recommending next steps like Implement stricter vendor cybersecurity audits, Enhance encryption and access controls for sensitive customer data and Expand customer education on two-factor authentication and fraud monitoring, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering FCC public disclosure and customer notifications with identity theft protection offers.

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 Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) with moderate to high confidence (70%), with evidence including attack vector such as unauthorized access to vendor (FBCS) network, and entry point such as FBCS computer network and Valid Accounts (T1078) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating unauthorized actors gained access to FBCS’s network (implies possible credential misuse). Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files (T1552.001) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating lack of proactive monitoring for exfiltration attempts (suggests weak credential storage/practices). Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Data from Local System (T1005) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including exfiltrating and encrypting sensitive personal data of 237,000 customers, and data exfiltration such as true, data encryption such as true. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol: Exfiltration Over Unencrypted/Obfuscated Non-C2 Protocol (T1048.003) with moderate to high confidence (80%), with evidence including unauthorized access, exfiltrating and encrypting sensitive personal data, and data exfiltration such as true. Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Data Encrypted for Impact (T1486) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including ransomware-like encryption of customer data, and data encryption such as true. Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (T1562.001) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating lack of proactive monitoring for exfiltration attempts (suggests defenses may have been bypassed/impaired). These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.