Size of TalkTalk hack scaled down while its management failings are amplified
Over the weekend the company's management stated that the cyber-attack had been 'smaller' than alleged, and had not penetrated its core systems. The company has faced a barrage of criticism ranging from allegations of a cover-up, to negligence and a complete lack of care for their customers. Of these, the most damaging allegations centre around the cover-up allegations, which will leave the company open to rigourous investigation. It now appears that TalkTalk was in fact hacked a few months ago and that either the company took no notice of customer complaints, or quite simply remained oblivious to the fact. While the company now facesa significant compensation bill; but the greater damage is likely to come from customer defection. Notions that the hack was carried out by a Jihadist group are currently being dismissed.

Hackers were using personal details in an attempt to scam TalkTalk customers nearly 24 hours before the cyber-attack was publicly revealed.

Iain Frater, a trainee doctor from Glasgow, said he nearly fell victim to what he described as a “very convincing scam” on Wednesday morning, in which the perpetrators hijacked his internet connection and telephoned pretending to be from the broadband company.

He said: “For me, they slowed my internet down – which I imagine could be a denial-of-service attack or something – then phoned pretending to be TalkTalk support, who were being proactive in helping their customers.

“They had all the details you would expect TalkTalk to have at hand, including name, address, phone number and TalkTalk account number. The guy really sounded like he was in a TalkTalk call centre.”

Frater was then asked to conduct some checks on his internet connection, but he became worried when the representative tried to direct him to a website, which appeared to be TalkTalk’s official tech support page.

“That’s when I got suspicious. He was a bit less convincing when I checked his name, job title and office location. I also asked if I could call back TalkTalk myself and be transferred to another representative.

“I tried to cut the call there, but I was then subjected to threats about what might happen if I hung up, including the possibility that my computer would blow up and kill me. So I wasn’t surprised when I heard about the cyber-attack yesterday, and think it could be linked in some way.”

Frater reported the attempted scam to TalkTalk, who told him that it was “dealing with it behind the scenes”. It is not known whether the scammers had obtained his bank details.

He added: “The moral of the story is to be suspicious of everyone, even if they’ve got all the right details and claim they are out to help you.”



