The extortion claims involving over 1 million Brightspeed customers were made by a group called the “Crimson Collective,” technology and cybersecurity sites such as Malwarebytesand TechRadar reported. The collective group posted a message on its Telegram channel in early January about the data theft.
“If anyone has someone working at Brightspeed, tell them to read their mails fast! We have in our hands over 1m+ residential user PII’s,” the group said. Along with full names, some of the personal information includes emails, phone numbers, addresses and payment information.
In another Telegram message, the group claimed it disconnected a lot of customers, according to Malwarebytes. However, Brightspeed has not confirmed this claim.
Although there are some complaints from customers on social media, it’s not clear if these problems are actually linked to the group’s actions, Malwarebytes reported.
The company said it is looking into the reports.
“We take the security of our networks and the protection of our customers’ and employees’ information seriously, and are rigorous in securing our networks and monitoring threats,” Brightspeed said in its statement to the Observer. “We are currently investigating reports of a cybersecurity event. As we learn more, we will keep our customers, employees, and authorities informed.”
Law firms are also investigating the incident, with an eye toward a potential class-action suit.
DATA BREACHES THAT HIT CHARLOTTE-AREA COMPANIES
Data breaches impacted other Charlotte -area companies in the past year or so.
Customers from Charlotte-based Belk also faced a data breach that occurred between last May 7 and May 11, the Charlotte Observer reported. Three lawsuits were filed in July in federal court against Belk for the data breach and for allegedly concealing the cyber attack.
Ahold Delhaize USA, the parent company of Salisbury-based Food Lion, was also impacted by a data breach in November 2024. More than 2.2 million people were impacted.
Among the victims are 387,071 North Carolina residents, according to the company’s security breach report sent to N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s office.
MORE ON BRIGHTSPEED
Brightspeed has operations in 20 states. It provides broadband and telecommunications services to more than 7.3 million homes and businesses, according to the company’s website.
It was formed in 2021 when private equity firm Apollo Global Management bought assets of Lumen Technologies, a Fortune 500 telecommunications company.
The privately held company has close to 4,000 employees.
Brightspeed’s headquarters are in the South End area of Charlotte at South Tryon Street and West Carson Boulevard.
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