TalkTalk Says Only 4 percent of Customers' Data Were Exposed To Hackers
British broadband company TalkTalk has provided an update related to the recent cyber attack against its website, saying that the personal data of only 4 percent of its 4 million customers was put at risk. The cyber attack on TalkTalk's website occured on Wednesday 21st October 2015, according to the company. Investigations by both TalkTalk and the Metropolitan Police confirmed that the total number of customers whose personal details were accessed is 156,959. Of these customers, 15,656 bank account numbers and sort codes were accessed, according to the company.
TalkTalk says that the 28,000 obscured credit and debit card numbers that were accessed cannot be used for financial transactions, and were 'orphaned', meaning that customers cannot be identified by the stolen data.
"Our ongoing forensic analysis of the site confirms that the scale of the attack was much more limited than initially suspected, and we can confirm that only 4% of TalkTalk customers have any sensitive personal data at risk. However, we continue to advise customers to be vigilant, and to take all precautions possible to protect themselves from scam phone calls and emails," the company added.
TalkTalk has now contacted all customers who have had financial details accessed, reiterating advice on what to do to keep themselves safe.