In what is becoming an almost predictable pattern, hackers have compromised a major American telecom company, potentially gaining access to vast numbers of everyday users’ email accounts through stolen passwords.
This time, it’s customers of Time Warner Cable, which told its customers that the FBI had notified them of the hack. Up to 320,000 customers, all of them using Roadrunner—RR.com email addresses—could be affected.
TWC joins a number of major companies that stores Americans’ data, including fellow Internet service providers Comcast and Verizon, in falling victim to hackers.
In an email to the Daily Dot, TWC spokesperson Eric Magnan stressed that the company hadn’t found any direct evidence that hackers had directly breached TWC databases. Instead, he said, the company speculates that this is a result of “either through malware downloaded during phishing attacks or indirectly through data breaches of other companies that stored TWC customer information, including email addresses.”
The company is still investigating what exactly happened, however. As is always the case in such scenarios, anyone potentially affected is encouraged to change their password immediately.
Illustration via Max Fleishman
