Cyber Incident Victim: FuboTV
Date:
Dec 2022
Location:
United States of America
Summary
A cyberattack caused a streaming outage for FuboTV subscribers during a World Cup semifinal match, preventing access to accounts and support services. The incident, unrelated to bandwidth constraints, led to widespread user complaints and prompted the company to engage cybersecurity experts and law enforcement. Service was restored within hours as the investigation continued.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 2 techniques |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On December 14, 2022, at approximately 2:00 PM Eastern Time, FuboTV subscribers attempting to watch the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 semifinal match between France and Morocco encountered a widespread service disruption. Users attempting to log into the streaming platform received a CB_ERR_OPEN error message stating "ff: downstream not available," rendering them unable to access their accounts. The outage occurred during a high-traffic period as viewers prepared for the live sporting event, with affected customers unable to contact FuboTV's support system due to its login requirement for assistance requests. FuboTV acknowledged the issue via Twitter within hours, advising subscribers to stream the match through FOX's alternative platform while they addressed the problem. The company's social media post explicitly stated the disruption was unrelated to internal technical issues but did not initially specify the exact cause. Customer complaints flooded social media platforms throughout the afternoon regarding the inaccessible service during the critical match window.
FuboTV confirmed the incident as a criminal cyberattack in an official statement published on their website the following day, December 15, 2022. The company ruled out bandwidth constraints or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks as contributing factors, indicating a more targeted network compromise. Upon detecting the attack, FuboTV initiated response protocols that included engaging cybersecurity firm Mandiant for forensic investigation and incident response support, while also notifying law enforcement agencies. Service restoration efforts continued throughout December 14th, with access gradually returning to subscribers by evening. The attack caused significant disruption during a peak viewing event but resulted in comparatively short downtime given the nature of cyber incidents. FuboTV maintained operational transparency through public communications but declined to disclose technical specifics of the attack vector or potential data impact beyond confirming the malicious origin. The investigation remained ongoing at the time of their last public update, with no further details provided about attacker identity or motivation.