A cyberattack targeting TalkTalk, a UK phone and broadband service provider may have compromised the personal and financial details of millions of customers.
UK phone and broadband provider TalkTalk has confirmed that it has been the target of a cyberattack that may have compromised users’ personal and financial information. TalkTalk serves some 4 million customers in the United Kingdrom and this is the cyberattack suffered by the company I nthe past 12 months alone.
In a statement, the company said:
We are very sorry to tell you that on Thursday 22nd October a criminal investigation was launched by the Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit following a significant and sustained cyberattack on our website on Wednesday 21st October.
The information that is likely to have been compromised from the breach includes customers’ data such as:
- Names
- Date of Birth
- Addresses
- Telephone Numbers
- Email Addresses
- TalkTalk a/c information.
- Credit card information and/or Bank details.
Tristia Harrison, the managing director at TalkTalk added that there is an investigation currently underway into the breach. Additionally, she notes that the company has hired leading cyber crime specialists along with the Metropolitan Police.
Another excerpt from the statement read:
“We take any threat to the security of our customers’ data extremely seriously and we are taking all the necessary steps to understand what has happened here.”
The company has reminded its customers to keep a keen eye on their bank accounts and credit cards to look for any unusual activity.
Confirming that the website has now been secured again, the company has also notified major banks to look for any suspicious activity on their customers’ accounts.
She added that the company will be contacting affected customers in the near future. Prior to the statement, several TalkTalk customers were reportedly facing connectivity issues with their email and broadband services in the last 24 hours, according to Sky News.
The company took down its website yesterday, citing reasons that weren’t related to broadband outage and as things stand, the website is still down as of today.
Previously, social engineering hackers had also tricked customers into revealing their bank account details by purporting to be employees from the company.
