25th Oct 2015 18:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC reported some progress was made on its cyber attack over the weekend, with significantly less customers hit than originally anticipated, as it hired defence contractor BAE Systems PLC to investigate the incident, though it is understood to be facing rising calls for compensation related to the incident.
TalkTalk late Thursday confirmed that a criminal investigation has been launched by the Metropolitan Police's Cyber Crime Unit following a "significant and sustained" cyber attack on the company's website on Wednesday. The company then confirmed that it had received a ransom demand from a person claiming to be responsible for the hack.
Confirming the cyber attack, the company said it has informed all of its customers, around 4.0 million, about the possibility that they have had their details compromised as a "precaution".
On Saturday, however, TalkTalk said the volume of financial information of its customers accessed it now expected to be "materially" lower than originally anticipated and said the data breached would not be enough on its own for a criminal group to target its customers.
The Financial Times, however, reported TalkTalk is facing mounting calls to pay compensation amid claims criminals have already started to target its customers. Chief Executive Dido Harding acknowledged the company is facing a brand reputation risk following the cyber attack, but said it had been the victim of a criminal attack rather than guilty of negligence.
The FT said legal experts have estimated that, under a worst-case scenario, compensation claims from the hack could total over GBP20.0 million. The group is also facing accusations that it could have done more to protect highly-sensitive customer information, such as bank details, from the hackers.
Following the incident, TalkTalk confirmed to Reuters it has hired BAE Systems, the blue-chip defence contractor, to investigate the cyber-attack. A TalkTalk spokesperson confirmed the company was working with BAE, while a spokeswoman for BAE's Applied Intelligence unit, its cyber security arm, said the company was analysing "vast quantities" of data in order to determine how the breach happened and what was stolen.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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