Comcast: Most leaked user data not authentic

Cable TV giant Comcast said that only about 700 customer names and passwords that were found on a public list on the Scribd document sharing site appear to be authentic. The full exposed list had about 8,000 names and passwords on it, but many are inactive. The company said a phishing or malware scam is likely the cause of the data exposure, rather than an internal Comcast leak, though Comcast is still working to investigate the issue.

The data exposure was first discovered by a PC World reader who was inspired to search for data on himself by the publication's story about the vast amount of information available on "people search engines."

For more:
- PC World has this story on Comcast's response
- PC World had this original story on people search engines

Related articles
The FCC got tough on telco customer privacy requirements
Internet privacy issues have been heating up in recent years