Time Warner Cable spokesperson Lavette Ansari announced that Time Warner Cable services, including broadband internet, would not be available to customers on February 29th, due to maintenance and network testing.
In the statement, Ansari said that the shut down for network maintenance was necessary to maintain the high quality broadcasting product and superior internet service the media giant company offers.
“We at Time Warner are proud of the fact that we have the best cable and internet service available for all of America,” Ansari said. “In order to maintain our incredible product and services, it is absolutely necessary that we perform this uninterrupted testing and overall product assessment before any problems arise.”
The decision to shut down and perform these maintenance actions comes at a time during which many media companies and internet services are being attacked by groups of rogue hackers. Both Playstation and Xbox networks have each been hacked and shut down recently, as well as Chase Bank and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The plague is not confined to the United States either, as North Korea has gone without internet service throughout the entire country following the actions of sophisticated hacking.
Other internet and cable companies are expected to follow suit according to University of Maryland Professor of Media Technologies & Sciences, Dr. Mamauf Abdul Rahim. “In this age of vast technology, knowledge which is now easily obtained. With the modern age of technology, there are mostly positives but with that also comes the potential of attack,” Rahim stated. “No company, no matter how big or small, as well as individuals, no matter how powerful, are a potential victim of extreme cyber attack. The appropriate measures of prevention must be taken in order to keep hacking risks as low as possible.”
Ansari added in her statement to select members of the Associated Press that in order to keep customer complaints as low as possible, the company wanted to give fair warning. ” It is important that the news of this shutdown be highly anticipated in order for our loyal customers to prepare themselves,” Ansari said. “We know that a full 24 hours is an extremely long time to go for some people to not use the internet.”