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    TalkTalk website hit by cyber-attack

    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    TalkTalk website hit by cyber-attack Empty TalkTalk website hit by cyber-attack

    Post by Kitkat Thu 22 Oct 2015, 23:24

    BBC News report just in:

    Police are investigating after a "significant and sustained cyber-attack" on the TalkTalk website, the UK company has said.

    The phone and broadband provider, which has more than four million customers in the UK, said credit card and bank details could have been accessed.

    The Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit is investigating the attack, which happened on Wednesday.

    It is the second time the company has been targeted by hackers this year.

    TalkTalk said in a statement that a criminal investigation had been launched on Thursday, adding there was a chance that customers' names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses and bank details had been accessed.

    A spokeswoman for the Met said: "There have been no arrests and enquiries are ongoing."

    Dido Harding, chief executive of the TalkTalk group, told BBC News: "We brought down all our websites [on Wednesday] lunchtime and have spent the last 24 hours investigating with the Met Police.

    "It's too early to know exactly what data has been attacked and what has been stolen... Potentially it could affect all of our customers, which is why we are contacting them all by email and we will also write to them as well."

    It is expected to take some time to contact everyone and a number of customers have taken to social media to express their frustration that they are yet to hear anything.

    TalkTalk urged customers to keep an eye on their accounts over the next few months and report any unusual activity to their bank and Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

    Ms Harding said the website was now secure again and the company had also contacted the major banks asking them to monitor for any suspicious activity on customers' accounts.

    She said that every customer would also be getting a year's free credit monitoring.
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    TalkTalk website hit by cyber-attack Empty Re: TalkTalk website hit by cyber-attack

    Post by Kitkat Fri 23 Oct 2015, 11:21

    In the wake of the news, the company's share price dropped by 10% in the first few hours after the London stock exchange opened at 08:00 BST.

    Cyber security consultant and former Scotland Yard detective Adrian Culley told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that a Russian Islamist group had posted online to claim responsibility for the attacks.


    What should you do if you think you're at risk?


    • Report any unusual activity on your accounts to your bank and the UK's national fraud and internet crime reporting centre Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or www.actionfraud.police.uk



    • TalkTalk is advising customers to change their account password as soon as its website is back up and running - expected to be later on Friday - and any other accounts for which you use the same password



    • Beware of scams: TalkTalk will not call or email customers asking for bank details or for you to download software to your computer, or send emails asking for you to provide your password



    readmore  arrow  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34615226
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    TalkTalk website hit by cyber-attack Empty Re: TalkTalk website hit by cyber-attack

    Post by Kitkat Fri 23 Oct 2015, 11:27

    Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC technology correspondent, says in his Analysis:

    We are being told that this was what's called a DDoS - a distributed denial of service attack - where a website is hit by waves of traffic so intense that it cannot cope. What is not clear is why this would result in the loss of data rather than just the site going down. One suggestion is that the DDoS was a means of distracting TalkTalk's defence team while the criminals went about their work.

      Current date/time is Thu 28 Mar 2024, 14:19