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Comcast is warning that hackers stole the personal data of more than 230,000 customers during a ransomware attack on a third-party debt collector, according to a court filing. The bad actors targeted a Pennsylvania-based debt collection agency called Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS.) The attack occurred back in February, but Comcast claims that FBCS initially said that the incident didnt involve any customer data. FBCS changed its tune by July, when it notified Comcast that customer information had been compromised, according to reporting by TechCrunch. All told, 237,703 subscribers were impacted by the breach. The attackers were thorough, scooping up names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, Comcast account numbers and ID numbers. Comcast says the stolen data belongs to customers who signed up with the company around 2021. It also says it has stopped using FBCS for the purposes of debt collection. From February 14 and February 26, 2024, an unauthorized party gained access to FBCSs computer network and some of its computers, the filing states. During this time, the unauthorized party downloaded data from FBCS systems and encrypted some systems as part of a ransomware attack. No group has stepped forward to claim credit for the incident. FBCS has only referred to the attacker as an unauthorized actor. The debt collection agency was hit hard by this attack, with Comcast customers being just one group of victims. The company says more than four million people were impacted and that the cybercriminals accessed medical claims and health insurance information, in addition to standard identification data. To that end, medical debt-purchasing company CF Medical confirmed that 600,000 of its customers were involved in the breach. Truist Bank also confirmed it was affected by the attack. Its notable that this incident primarily impacts debtors, opening them up to potential scams. Chris Hauk, consumer privacy advocate at Pixel Privacy, told Engadget that the bad actors that get their paws on this information may use it to pose as debt relief agencies, which many turn to as a way out of their situation, meaning many of the involved debtors may be defrauded out of large sums of money, something they can ill-afford. In other words, keep an eye out for suspicious phone calls, emails and texts. This is good advice for anyone, and not just debtors who had data stored with FBCS. After all, it was revealed that hackers stole more than 2.7 billion records from American consumers earlier this year, which likely includes data on everyone who lives in the country.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/comcast-says-230000-customers-affected-by-debt-collection-data-breach-184554728.html?src=rss
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Twitch is striving for more clarity about why and how it executes its policies. On Monday, the company said its adding Enforcement Notes, which it describes as additional clarifications and examples within the Community Guidelines designed to make our rules easier to follow. The notes come on the heels of (and complement) the companys recent promise that it would do a better job of telling rule-breakers why their accounts were suspended. The company says Enforcement Notes will outline how its rules apply to the trends you see on the platform. For example, if a new trending topic violates one of Twitchs policies, it will publish a note under that rule, clarifying precisely which behaviors are and arent out of bounds. It will also publish new notes in response to data spikes it observes, widespread community confusion or trending discussions on social media. Twitch has already added some enforcement notes to its community guidelines safety page. For example, one note says selling activities that could cause harm in exchange for money (like taking shots for subscriptions) is forbidden under its Self-destructive behavior rule. In addition, it states under Sexual content that direct links to websites that primarily provide intimate content arent allowed on the platform. Under Impersonation, it states that if someone else is posing as you, you can report the imitating stream to Twitch when it doesnt qualify for a DMCA removal. Twitch says its enforcement notes wont replace any of its existing methods of communication with users, like blog posts or tweets. Instead, the company describes the notes as a source of truth for all policy and enforcement updates. Right now, the easiest way to learn about Enforcement Notes is through a browser page search on the community guidelines page. However, Twitch says it will eventually add a visual symbol to indicate new ones. Its also working on a built-in search feature to make the notes easier to spot without using Cmd-F or Ctrl-F.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/twitch-makes-its-complicated-rulebook-easier-to-follow-183617108.html?src=rss
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Nintendos new Switch bundles are here. As the seven-year-old console takes its victory lap ahead of the Switch 2, the standard Switch and the OLED model are now available in the new bundles announced in September. The systems are each packaged with redemption codes for a 12-month Switch Online membership and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The standard bundle costs $300, and the OLED variant costs $350. The baseline bundle includes the standard Switch with a 6.2-inch LCD and red and blue Joy-Cons. Meanwhile, the OLED console has a 7-inch OLED display and white Joy-Cons. For only $50 extra, the latter gives you extra screen real estate along with the richer colors and deeper blacks of OLED. Although the standard model still looks good, comparing them side-by-side makes the $50 more expensive OLED one hard to turn down. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been one of the consoles flagship titles since its arrival shortly after the console itself in 2017. Initially released for the Wii U, the Switch revamp of the racing classic adapts its controls well to the portable system. The games optional smart steering feature helps make it more fun for those who frequently drive off-course and spend the next 30 seconds trying to get back on as their competitors lap them. (Raises hand.) The game looks terrific on the Switchs screen especially the OLED and it runs in an enhanced 1080p mode when docked. Nintendo Meanwhile, Switch Online enables online play on Mario Kart 8 and many other titles, along with cloud-based saves. You also get access to hundreds of old-school games from the NES, SNES, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, N64 and Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) eras. Youll find Nintendos own Mario, Zelda and Metroid classics there, along with plenty of third-party fare to keep you entertained. The biggest caveat to this bundle is that the Switch 2 (or whatever Nintendo calls its successor) is on the horizon. Although Nintendo hasnt announced the successor yet, the company is rumored to reveal it anytime. The sequel is expected to have a more powerful processor, more RAM and storage and support for NVIDIAs DLSS upscaling tech. But even if Nintendo unveils the console soon, it isnt expected to arrive until sometime in 2025, so it wont be an option for this holiday season either way.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendos-discounted-switch-bundles-are-now-available-174016292.html?src=rss
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