27th Oct 2015 06:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - A 15-year-old boy was arrested on Monday in Northern Ireland over the cyber-attack on TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC last week.
The company's share price has plunged following the attack, amid concerns about reputational damage and potential compensation claims.
Scotland Yard said officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, working with detectives from the Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit, arrested the boy from a house in County Antrim on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences. The identity of the suspect has not been disclosed and he has been taken into custody at a Country Antrim police station.
A spokesperson from TalkTalk confirmed the company had been informed by the Metropolitan Police of the arrest of a suspect in connection with the cyber-attack, which the company said last week may have compromised the bank details of its customers.
The arrest of a single teenager contradicts a group claiming to be Russian jihadist hackers, which The Sunday Times reported had posted a message online claiming responsibility for the hack. Other reports had attributed the cyber-attack to LulzSec, the computer hacking group which claimed responsibility for the 2011 data breach at Sony Pictures.
Since first disclosing the attack, TalkTalk said over the weekend that 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.
On Monday, the company said the investigation conducted so far has shown that sensitive financial information, including credit and debit card numbers, were protected, though it said bank account numbers and sort codes have been accessed. Without more information, however, TalkTalk said criminals will not be able to take money from customers' bank accounts and, even with more information, the risks are "very small indeed".
TalkTalk also said that, as a gesture of goodwill and on a case-by-case basis, it would wave termination fees for customers who have money stolen from their accounts as a direct result of the cyber-attack.
The Financial Times reported over the weekend that TalkTalk was facing mounting calls to pay compensation amid claims criminals have already started to target its customers. TalkTalk 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.
Still, the concerns about the damage the cyber-attack will cause to TalkTalk resulted in its shares closing down 12% on Monday, easily the worst performer in the FTSE 250 and leaving its stock down by 30% in October so far.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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