FCC Fines Cox for Data Breach

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau has entered into a $595,000 settlement with Cox Communications to resolve an investigation into whether the company failed to properly protect its customers’ personal information when the company’s electronic data systems were breached in 2014. As a result, third parties had access to the personal information of Cox’s subscribers. Cox has approximately six million subscribers nationwide.

The action represents the FCC’s first privacy and data security enforcement action with a cable operator. As a condition of settlement, Cox will pay a $595,000 civil penalty. The settlement also requires Cox to identify all affected customers, notify them of the breach, and provide them one year of free credit monitoring. Under the settlement, Cox will adopt a comprehensive compliance plan, which establishes an information security program that includes annual system audits, internal threat monitoring, penetration testing, and additional breach notification systems and processes to protect customers’ personal information and CPNI. The Enforcement Bureau will monitor Cox’s compliance with the consent decree for seven years.