Popular TV cable company impacted by data breach of up to 4 million personal records

The personal records of up to four million Time Warner Cable customers were possibly leaked via an unsecured Amazon server. The breach, which involved more than 600GB of data (the equivalent of 20 HD movies), was discovered by Cologne, Germany-based cybersecurity firm Kromtech. Charter Communications bought Time Warner Cable last year, and the two companies currently operate under the Spectrum brand name. Prior to its purchase, Time Warner was the second-largest cable company in the U.S. and operated in 29 states. Some of the affected records date back to 2010, but it's unclear exactly how many people were impacted by the incident. Though four million records were likely breached, that doesn't mean the data of four million individuals is at risk.Some of the compromised info contained duplicate material, but an unknown number of Time Warner subscribers' email addresses, MAC addresses, financial transaction info, usernames and device serial numbers were openly available online. The billing addresses, phone numbers and general contact info for hundreds of thousands of Time Warner users were also left on unsecured servers. The servers also stored corporate emails, internal company records and database dumps. "A vendor has notified us that certain non-financial information of legacy Time Warner Cable customers who used the My TWC app became potentially visible by external sources," Charter told the Hollywood Reporter on Friday. "Upon discovery, the information was removed immediately by the vendor, and we are currently investigating this incident with them. There is no indication that any Charter systems were impacted. As a general security measure, we encourage customers who used the My TWC app to change their user names and passwords."Online security is a growing concern - unsecured data and criminal breaches will cost businesses a total of $8 trillion over the next five years, according to a global report from U.K-based market intelligence firm Juniper Research.In 2015, research revealed that more than $315 billion had been lost by businesses around the world during the past 12 months, highlighting a greater need for digital security professionals.

The personal records of up to Time Warner Cable customers were possibly leaked via an . The breach, which involved more than 600GB of data (the equivalent of 20 HD movies), was discovered by Cologne, Germany-based cybersecurity firm Kromtech.

Charter Communications bought Time Warner Cable last year, and the two companies currently operate under the Spectrum brand name. Prior to its purchase, Time Warner was the second-largest cable company in the U.S. and operated in 29 states.

Some of the affected records date back to 2010, but it's unclear exactly how many people were impacted by the incident. Though four million records were likely breached, that doesn't mean the data of four million individuals is at risk.

Some of the compromised info contained duplicate material, but an unknown number of Time Warner subscribers' email addresses, MAC addresses, financial transaction info, usernames and device serial numbers were openly available online.

The billing addresses, phone numbers and general contact info for hundreds of thousands of Time Warner users were also left on unsecured servers.

The servers also stored corporate emails, internal company records and database dumps.

"A vendor has notified us that certain non-financial information of legacy Time Warner Cable customers who used the My TWC app became potentially visible by external sources," Charter told . "Upon discovery, the information was removed immediately by the vendor, and we are currently investigating this incident with them. There is no indication that any Charter systems were impacted. As a general security measure, we encourage customers who used the My TWC app to change their user names and passwords."

Online security is a growing concern - unsecured data and criminal breaches will cost businesses a total of $8 trillion over the next five years, according to a global report from U.K-based market intelligence firm .

In , research revealed that more than $315 billion had been lost by businesses around the world during the past 12 months, highlighting a greater need for digital security professionals.

��vlog