TalkTalk hit by major cyber attack

BROADBAND and telecoms provider TalkTalk, which has its technology infrastructure divisions in Warrington and Irlam, has been hit by a major cyber attack.

The FTSE 250 listed company said a police investigation had begun, but warned that important customer data could have been compromised. At one stage its shares slumped 10%, but recovered slightly to 252.25p, down 6.5%.

A stock market statement said: “A criminal investigation was launched by the Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit on 22 October 2015 following a significant and sustained cyberattack on the company’s website.

“That investigation is ongoing, but unfortunately there is a chance that some of the following data has been compromised: names, addresses, date of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, TalkTalk account information, credit card details and/or bank details.

“The company is continuing to work with leading cyber crime specialists and the Metropolitan Police to establish exactly what happened and the extent of any information accessed.”

Chief executive Dido Harding added:”TalkTalk constantly updates its systems to make sure they are as secure as possible against the rapidly evolving threat of cyber crime, impacting an increasing number of individuals and organisations.

“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. As a precaution, we are contacting all our customers straight away with information, support and advice around yesterday’s attack.”