Foxtel’s streaming services have been affected by a security breach, with the company contacting impacted consumers this week.
Gizmodo reported that Hubbl, which provides the Kayo and Binge services (as well as the much-vaunted streaming box launched two months ago), wrote to affected customers to inform them of a “data security incident that occurred between 18 March 2024 and 17 April 2024”.
A Foxtel statement said that the incident was “unrelated to [the company’s] systems”, and was a “credential stuffing” attack. Credential stuffing is a type of cyberattack in which bad-faith actors attempt to access user accounts using lists of maliciously obtained usernames and passwords. It is not necessarily specific to the targeted service, and does not necessarily mean that the account information was obtained from the targeted service.
However, it does mean that Hubbl customer information such as full names, email addresses, phone numbers and credit card details may have been accessed by the attacker.
Foxtel said it “encourage[s] customers to be disciplined in the protection of their passwords, ensuring they are strong, unique and not shared”. It is understood the company reset passwords that were affected by the breach.
Hubbl took over Streamotion in February as the brand responsible for Foxtel’s various streaming services, which include sports service Kayo, entertainment service Binge, and news service Flash. It came as the company geared up to launch its own physical streaming product, launched to an almost-inescapable advertising blitz featuring the likes of comedy duo Hamish and Andy.
Crikey asked Hubbl whether there were any further steps possible for the company to take to protect users and whether they were undertaken. Crikey also asked how sales have gone for the product over its first few weeks, and whether it had cannibalised sales from Foxtel’s existing products (such as the traditional cable service) in that period.
A Foxtel Group spokesperson did not respond directly to our questions on sales, but instead directed us to a round of interviews done by Hubbl managing director Les Wigan earlier this month where he said the company was “really happy with the launch” of the product.
