Time Warner Cable Warns 320,000 Customers Their Email & Passwords May Have Been Breached
Hundreds of thousands of Time Warner Cable customers received alerts this week telling them to change their email passwords after law enforcement officials notified TWC that hackers may have gotten their hands on this sensitive information.
Reuters reports that TWC was notified by officials with the FBI that some customers’ email addresses, including passwords, “may have been compromised.”
While the company hasn’t determined how the information was obtained, TWC says the email and password details were likely gathered either through malware downloaded during phishing attacks or indirectly through data breaches of other companies that store TWC’s customer information.
“Approximately 320,000 customers across our markets could be impacted by this situation,” Eric Mangan, director of public relations, tells Venture Beat. “To protect the security of these customers, we are sending emails and direct mail correspondence to encourage them to update their email password as a precaution.”
Mangan says the company will post a notice on its website that includes tips for how customers can navigate the Web more carefully and how to avoid phishing schemes.
TWC will contact customers who may have been affected by the possible breach individually and help them reset their passwords.
The possible hack of TWC emails comes about two months after Comcast said it reset the passwords for about 200,000 email customers because of a similar leak.
The list of emails and corresponding passwords made up roughly 590,000 accounts. However, Comcast determined that nearly 60% of that information was for inactive accounts, leaving just 200,000 compromised customers.
A rep for Comcast said the company’s security teams are certain that none of its systems or apps had been compromised.
A copy of the alert sent out by TWC to affected customers
Time Warner Cable says up to 320,000 customers’ data may have been stolen [Reuters]
Time Warner Cable advises 320,000 customers of possible hack [Venture Beat]
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