Time Warner Cable Hacked, Change Your Passwords Now
More than 320,000 Time Warner Cable customer account information was stolen yesterday, mainly due to malware and phishing attacks against Time Warner partner companies. If you are a subscriber, you know what to do: change your password now.
Surprisingly, the FBI notified Time Warner of the hack instead of the company detecting it itself. The FBI explained that some of their clients’ account information, including usernames and passwords, could have been compromised (and the report did not indicate if those passwords were hashed and salted when they were received).
Time Warner isn’t entirely sure exactly how the information was obtained or where the security glitch occurred, but they don’t think it was a breach in their own systems. They say the information was likely obtained through third-party companies that Time Warner is partnering with. VentureBeat Notes:
Currently, Time Warner Cable does not know how the breach could have occurred, but the company speculated that it could have been the result of a phishing attack or even hacking of third parties that hold information about their customers. “For those customers whose credentials have been stolen, we contact them individually to inform them and help reset their passwords,” Mangan said. “We also provide some tips on how to navigate the Internet more carefully and how to avoid phishing scams on our website.”
Time Warner also noted that users with “Roadrunner” accounts or those with rr.com email addresses are at particular risk.
Even if Time Warner says it is notifying affected customers, it might be a good idea to go and change your password now. Maintain good password hygiene, get a password manager, and don’t use the same password across multiple sites.
Time Warner Cable Announces Potential Hacking to 320,000 Customers | VentureBeat via Reuters