Time Warner Cable Warns 320,000 Users Of Possible Hack

The hacks are coming thick and fast in the New Year after Time Warner Cable advised 320,000 of its customers that their personal details may have been accessed in a possible attack.

It seems that user emails and password details may have been pilfered, with the cable giant telling customers to change their email passwords.

No Data Breach

Time Warner Cable has reportedly notified the FBI of the possible attack. At this stage it not clear how the customer details were obtained, but the firm is currently saying it is not as a result of a data breach of its core networks.

Instead, the firm is reportedly saying it could have been the result of a phishing attack or even a breach of third parties that store its customers’ information.

“Approximately 320,000 customers across our markets could be impacted by this situation,” Eric Mangan, the company’s director of public relations told Venturebeat.com. “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 said that customers with Roadrunner email accounts are of particular concern. These customers have the RR.com domain in their address.

“For those customers whose account information was stolen, we are contacting them individually to make them aware and to help them reset their passwords,” Mangan was quoted as saying. “Additionally, through our website, we provide several tips for how to navigate the Web more carefully and how to avoid phishing schemes.”

Bad New Year

It has not been a good start to the New Year so far on the security front.

Earlier this week, hosting firm Linode confirmed it had carried out a system-wide password reset after “the discovery of two Linode.com user credentials on an external machine.”

It was also revealed that the BlackEnergy trojan horse was used in an attack that disabled parts of Ukraine’s power grid last month. That December 23 attack left parts of western Ukraine, including regional capital Ivano-Frankivsk, without power.

Hackers also disabled the BBC’s online services in late December, and have stated that the attacks were “a test” in preparation for actions against Islamic State’s (IS) online operations.

Are you a security pro? Try our quiz!