The company said it was recently notified by the FBI that the email accounts of 320,000 of its customers nationwide may have been compromised by thieves.

Time Warner Cable is advising 320,000 of its customers to change their email account passwords because hackers may have gained access to them.

The cable television giant said it was recently notified by the FBI that “some of our customers’ email addresses, including account passwords, may have been compromised.”

“Our understanding is that the compromise had nothing to do with TWC’s systems or processes,” the company said in an email to potentially affected customers this week. “TWC has found no evidence of a breach in its systems that operate and secure email accounts for our customers.”

Nathalie Burgos, a spokeswoman for the company, said only customers with Roadrunner email addresses are potentially impacted. Roadrunner email addresses include the letters “rr” in the domain name.

Burgos said the company has not determined how its customers’ email addresses and passwords may have been obtained. However, they possibly could have been stolen through malware downloaded during phishing attacks or indirectly through data breaches of other companies that stored Time Warner Cable customer information, including email addresses, she said.

Phishing attacks occur when people are sent emails that direct them to a website that asks them to “update” personal information, such as email passwords and credit card accounts. The sites, which resemble those of legitimate companies but are not, may also download malware that can collect personal information from a person’s computer.

Customers throughout Time Warner’s nationwide service territory who potentially had their email accounts compromised were notified this week and advised to change their passwords by going to http://twc.com/emailpassword and following the instructions.

Burgos said criminals can use stolen passwords to access private information, potentially including financial data, from people’s emails.

Customers with questions may call the company at 1-844-899-8913. Time Warner Cable Business Class customers may call 1-866-892-4249.

Via: syracuse