Comcast has reached a $117.5 million deal to settle 24 class-action lawsuits stemming from a 2023 data breach that might have impacted more than 30 million customers, writes Abraham Gutman for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The agreement received preliminary approval from a federal judge earlier this month.
If the current terms of the agreement gets fully approved, impacted customers would receive three years of financial monitoring and identify-theft-protection service. They’d also get to choose between reimbursement of up to $10,000 or a $50 cash payment.
While Comcast didn’t oppose the request for preliminary approval of the agreement, the Philadelphia-based technology and media conglomerate said in court records that it doesn’t agree with the facts told by the customers’ representatives, and denies all liability.
Between Oct. 16 and 19, 2023, hackers gained access to Comcast’s internal system after the company delayed implementing a patch to fix a vulnerability in the cyber system Comcast depends on, according to court records.
The class attorneys accused Comcast of failing to take the cyber company’s advice, which allowed hackers to take advantage of the vulnerability.
According to court records, the data breach led to usernames, passwords, contact information, and last four digits of Social Security numbers being potentially available to hackers.
Read more about Comcast’s data breach settlement and what it could mean for customers in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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