Now we know the size, scope and costs of the October data breach
Now that the dust has settled over October’s Data Breach at Talk Talk we now have ‘the facts’.
Contrary to initial reports, it now transpires that the breach was not, as first reported, instigated by cyber-terrorists, but by a bunch of disaffected teenagers.
I’m not sure which prospect is more disconcerting.
The facts as now reported are that the ‘significant and sustained‘ breach compromised the details of nearly 157,000 customers and 15,600 bank sort codes and account numbers. 28,000 credit card numbers were leaked, but these had been obscured and thus could not be used for payment transactions; they could, however, be used by spammers to add credibility when making calls to Talk Talk customers.
Given that personal data was compromised, and that it’s not the first time that Talk Talk have been hacked, it’s likely that they will be penalised by the Information Commissioners Office.
It’s now likely that 2015 will be seen as the year of the data breach; Theresa May, the Home Secretary, recently told Parliament that “90% of large organisations suffering an information security breach last year“.
We help businesses to reduce their exposure by ensuring that payment card data never enters their data environment and, in simple terms, even if your company suffers a data breach, then your customers’ payment card data can’t and won’t be compromised.
Give us a call, let’s see how we can help you.