Business leaders have called for urgent action to tackle cyber-crime after an attack on Talk Talk, which saw millions of its customers’ accounts and personal details compromised. Despite a number of the company’s customers reporting their bank accounts targeting, currently it is understood no losses have so far deemed directly attributable to the attack on the phone and broadband services provider.
UK security officials suggest the attack on TalkTalk was likely to have been perpetrated by a criminal organisation using techniques that were readily available among hackers, raising questions about the sophistication of TalkTalk’s digital defences.
Consumers attention soon turned to the public handling of the event, following the company’s refusal to waive early-exit charges for those who wished to end contacts early following the attack. Former home office minister Hazel Blears said the TalkTalk data breach was “a wake-up call”. She said it should prompt a debate about whether further regulation was needed “because this is probably the biggest threat to our economy”.
This incident is the third time this year that Talk Talk has been targeted by hackers. Google and McAfee estimate there are 2,000 cyber attacks every day around the world, costing the global economy about £300bn a year.
