TalkTalk | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Thu, 23 May 2019 12:46:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png TalkTalk | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 TalkTalk misinformed almost 4,500 customers affected by 2015 hack https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-announcement/matthew-wilson/talktalk-misinformed-almost-4500-customers-affected-by-2015-hack/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-announcement/matthew-wilson/talktalk-misinformed-almost-4500-customers-affected-by-2015-hack/#respond Thu, 23 May 2019 12:46:46 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=413455 It has been almost four years since TalkTalk was hacked, but we are still hearing about the fallout.

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Almost four years ago, UK ISP ‘TalkTalk’ suffered a major data breach, as a small group of hackers wormed their way into the company’s systems and obtained personal information and bank account details for thousands of customers. The people responsible have since been arrested and TalkTalk was fined £400,000 for poor security practices. Now, the hack is back to haunt them, as it turns out they didn’t properly inform customers that their details were leaked.

The BBC’s Watchdog investigation claims that 4,545 TalkTalk customers were told that they weren’t impacted by the 2015 data breach, which later turned out to be untrue. That means these customers had their full names, addresses, email addresses, dates of birth, customer numbers, phone numbers freely available online, increasing the risk of identity fraud.

TalkTalk told the BBC that this was a case of human error and that misinformed customers have since been contacted to apologise.

David Emm, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab UK, has labelled this as “a reminder that online providers not only have a duty of care to secure their customers’, but also to inform them in a timely manner if their data has been compromised”.

“Cybercriminals will never stop trying to compromise systems to obtain valuable information, such as personal customer data, – including personal details, payment card information and other valuable data that can be used for criminal purposes. Businesses should take a step back and re-evaluate their security strategy regularly, to ensure that their security strategy remains effective.”

The TalkTalk hack came to light in October 2015 and impacted close to 157,000 customers in total. The company was already fined £400,000 for poor security practices. Currently, there is no word on an additional fine based on misinforming at risk customers.

KitGuru Says: It is one thing to suffer from a data breach, but misinforming customers that were affected makes matters much worse. Hopefully, this will serve as another reminder to UK companies that they should have proper security procedures in place, in addition to a plan of action to inform customers swiftly if a breach does occur.

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Perpetrators of 2015’s TalkTalk data breach receive jail time https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-announcement/damien-cox/perpetrators-of-2015s-talktalk-data-breach-receive-jail-time/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-announcement/damien-cox/perpetrators-of-2015s-talktalk-data-breach-receive-jail-time/#respond Tue, 20 Nov 2018 17:34:59 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=395703 Two “individuals of extraordinary talent” partially responsible for TalkTalk's major data breach in 2015, each receiving jail sentences.

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Back in 2015, telecommunications firm TalkTalk was hit with a major data breach, costing the company tens of millions of pounds. Two “individuals of extraordinary talent” have been found partially responsible for the hack, each receiving jail sentences.

Although exposure of the vulnerability was admittedly the fault of an unrelated 17-year-old, two friends from Tamworth, Staffordshire have both admitted their part in utilising the weakness to steal data from TalkTalk. 23-year-old Matthew Hanley, described as a “determined and dedicated hacker,” received 12 months in prison for passing sensitive details of 8,000 customers for use in fraud to 21-year-old Connor Allsopp, who received just 8 months for his part.

“The crown cannot say precisely what was within the file that Hanley provided to Allsopp,” explains prosecutor Peter Ratliff. “However, on the basis of Hanley’s previous discussions with others, it would appear to have been the bank and other details of in excess of 8,000 TalkTalk customers. Because it was that material he repeatedly boasted of having.”

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Judge Anuja Dhir QC handed out the sentences, stating that both were “involved in a significant, sophisticated systematic hack attack in a computer system used by TalkTalk. The prosecution accept that neither of you exposed the vulnerability in their systems, others started it, but you at different times joined in.

“Your actions, the actions of others, resulted in the then-CEO of TalkTalk being subjected to repeated attempts to blackmail her for money. You were not personally involved in making those attempts but your actions helped facilitate it,” Judge Dhir concluded.

Overall, the hack included the names of customers, as well as their dates of birth, addresses and bank details. This resulted in an estimated loss of £77 million for TalkTalk, according to Ratliff, £400,000 of which was fined by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for poor security practices.

KitGuru Says: £77m is a big jump from the estimated £35m back in 2015, however it’s not clear how much monetary damage the two boys are responsible for. Do you think 12 months and 8 months jail time are good punishments for committing an offense under the Computer Misuse Act?

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TalkTalk still has the most dissatisfied broadband customers in the UK https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/damien-cox/talktalk-still-has-the-most-dissatisfied-broadband-customers-in-the-uk/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/damien-cox/talktalk-still-has-the-most-dissatisfied-broadband-customers-in-the-uk/#respond Fri, 20 Jul 2018 10:06:49 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=380477 On the surface, UK broadband provider TalkTalk is doing rather well. It grew its customer base by a net 80,000 in the first quarter of FY19, pushing above 2.1 million subscribers in total. Not everyone is happy to be with the company, however, as Ofcom outs that the company is still the most complained about …

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On the surface, UK broadband provider TalkTalk is doing rather well. It grew its customer base by a net 80,000 in the first quarter of FY19, pushing above 2.1 million subscribers in total. Not everyone is happy to be with the company, however, as Ofcom outs that the company is still the most complained about provider in Britain.

The average ratio of grievances in the broadband industry sits around 16 complaints per 100,000 customers. While BT broadband and the BT-owned Plusnet breach this barrier with 23 and 20 complaints respectively, TalkTalk takes the crown at a whopping 29 complaints per 100,000 customers. Conversely, Sky sits with just 5 complaints in the first quarter of 2018.

“While these historical numbers by Ofcom are disappointing, it doesn't reflect the current customer experience,” claims a TalkTalk representative. “The most recent data shows a significant reduction in complaint numbers, customer satisfaction is on the rise and we've seen more customers than ever staying with us this year.”

Reports of TalkTalk’s complaints are similarly bad concerning its landline service, with an average of 20 complaints per 100,000 customers in the first quarter. TalkTalk’s mobile platform fared much better with just 5 complaints in comparison to Virgin Mobile’s 11, iD Mobile’s 10, Vodafone’s 9 and BT’s 8. Ironically, TalkTalk has already announced last September that it is set to bow out of the mobile scene in order to refocus its efforts on its internet roots.

“It's frustrating enough when things go wrong, without having to put up with poor customer service as well,” explains Ofcom's director of consumer policy, Jane Rumble. “So it's encouraging to see complaint numbers falling in some areas, and we want to see this continue. Anyone fed up with their provider can easily shop around and see if there's a better service out there for them.”

Although TalkTalk boast an additional 67,000 subscribers to its part-fibre broadband, it will be allocating £1.5 billion on its full fibre efforts to bring gigabit connections to 3 million premises in the UK. In the meantime, the company’s headline revenues rose to £382m year-on-year, an increase of approximately 4.1 percent. Still, the company has a long way to go in order to restore customer faith.

KitGuru Says: I’ve personally been with TalkTalk in the past and sadly cannot say a good word about the services, from intermittent connections at off-peak times to poor customer service interaction in addressing the problems. Hopefully the company has improved in the three years since I was with them, however Ofcom seems to think otherwise. Have you had any bad broadband experiences?

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TalkTalk fined £400,000 for poor security practises https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/talktalk-fined-400000-for-poor-security-practises/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/talktalk-fined-400000-for-poor-security-practises/#respond Wed, 05 Oct 2016 14:47:54 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=307916 It has been almost a year since TalkTalk suffered a huge cyber attack, in which the personal information of over 150,000 customers was stolen. Now, the UK-based ISP has to face the consequences, as the firm has been fined a record £400,000 for poor security practices, which left consumer data inadequately protected. The fine has …

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It has been almost a year since TalkTalk suffered a huge cyber attack, in which the personal information of over 150,000 customers was stolen. Now, the UK-based ISP has to face the consequences, as the firm has been fined a record £400,000 for poor security practices, which left consumer data inadequately protected.

The fine has been imposed by the Information Commissioner after an investigation revealed that TalkTalk's security simply wasn't up to snuff, to the point where the attackers were able to obtain access “with ease”. While the personal information of over 150,000 customers was stolen, 16,000 customers also had bank details stolen.

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The commission said in its press release that “TalkTalk’s failure to implement the most basic cyber security measures allowed hackers to penetrate TalkTalk’s systems with ease. Yes hacking is wrong, but that is not an excuse for companies to abdicate their security obligations. TalkTalk should and could have done more to safeguard its customer information. It did not and we have taken action.”

“Today’s record fine acts as a warning to others that cyber security is not an IT issue, it is a boardroom issue. Companies must be diligent and vigilant. They must do this not only because they have a duty under law, but because they have a duty to their customers.”

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Last year's TalkTalk hack was big news at the time, especially with the amount of people affected. Hopefully this sort of fine will prompt other companies to double down on cyber security in order to properly protect customers.

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Another arrest made in connection to TalkTalk hack https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/another-arrest-made-in-connection-to-talktalk-hack/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/another-arrest-made-in-connection-to-talktalk-hack/#respond Wed, 25 Nov 2015 20:44:41 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=276303 Arrests are still being made as the police continue to investigate exactly what went down in the TalkTalk hack, which saw customer details accessed, presumably to then be used as part of a mass phishing scam or sold on to others. The fifth arrest was made this week in connection to the hack, though this …

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Arrests are still being made as the police continue to investigate exactly what went down in the TalkTalk hack, which saw customer details accessed, presumably to then be used as part of a mass phishing scam or sold on to others. The fifth arrest was made this week in connection to the hack, though this one is a little different.

An eighteen year old from Wales was arrested this time and charged with suspicion of blackmail, while the other four people arrested were all taken in under the Computer Misuse Act, according to a report from The Register.

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We did hear about a ransom demand levied at TalkTalk, so this arrest could be in connection to that. The hack itself was initially believed to have affected over a million of the ISPs customers, though after some further investigation it was revealed that 157,000 customers had their details taken, which is still a lot, but not quite as bad as anticipated.

All customers that were affected by the attack should have been contacted by TalkTalk at this point in order to discuss options. That said, there has been a few reports suggesting that TalkTalk would not be letting affected customers out of their contracts following the hack, so some customers may be stuck with the ISP for the time being.

KitGuru Says: I know a couple of our readers use TalkTalk and weren't too pleased by their security when the hack went down. Do you think TalkTalk should allow those affected to leave their contracts without penalty after this? Honestly, I wouldn't blame anyone affected by this for losing faith in the company's security. 

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The TalkTalk hack will cost it around £35 million https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/the-talktalk-hack-will-cost-it-around-35-million/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/the-talktalk-hack-will-cost-it-around-35-million/#respond Wed, 11 Nov 2015 21:13:23 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=274866 TalkTalk has been in the news a lot these past couple of weeks, after a major hack saw the details of thousands of customers stolen. So far four people have been arrested in connection to the hack and the ISP has been working on contacting every customer that had their details taken, however, it doesn't …

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TalkTalk has been in the news a lot these past couple of weeks, after a major hack saw the details of thousands of customers stolen. So far four people have been arrested in connection to the hack and the ISP has been working on contacting every customer that had their details taken, however, it doesn't stop there as TalkTalk says the cyber attack will cost it between £30 million and £35 million.

TalkTalk Chief Executive, Dido Harding, said that in the days following the attack the ISP saw “an immediate bounce in customers wishing to cancel their direct debits and to churn”, though things settled down once more details started coming to light and TalkTalk had a chance to explain the events a bit better.

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Around 157,000 customers were affected in total, meaning the situation wasn't nearly as dire as initially thought, when potentially all four million customers could have had their data accessed and stolen. According to the Reuters report, the whole ordeal will end up costing the company around £30 million this year, with earnings expectations lowered slightly as a result of the attack.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The TalkTalk hack has been quite the saga to follow. If this hack is costing £30 million, I do wonder how much Sony stood to lose overall after the Sony Pictures hack last year. 

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157,000 people had details stolen in TalkTalk hack https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/157000-people-had-details-stolen-in-talktalk-hack/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/157000-people-had-details-stolen-in-talktalk-hack/#respond Fri, 06 Nov 2015 18:35:38 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=274523 With four people now in custody for their connection to the TalkTalk hack, we are starting to learn more and more about what actually happened. After a couple of weeks of speculation as to how much data was stolen, we now know that 157,000 customers of the ISP had their details stolen, with 15,600 full …

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With four people now in custody for their connection to the TalkTalk hack, we are starting to learn more and more about what actually happened. After a couple of weeks of speculation as to how much data was stolen, we now know that 157,000 customers of the ISP had their details stolen, with 15,600 full bank account numbers and sort codes taken, alongside personal data like email addresses, phone numbers and more.

As far as obscured/encrypted information goes, the credit and debit card numbers of 28,000 customers were accessed. As far as personal information goes, names, addresses, dates of birth, telephone numbers and email addresses were taken, though passwords remain safe.

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Right now, three teenagers have been arrested and searched in connection with the attack, along with one 20 year old man. All four people were spread out across the UK and according to TalkTalk's own investigation, it believes these details were taken in order to start a larger scam, in order to trick customers in to handing over bank account data.

Those on TalkTalk should be wary of any emails or phone calls for the next few weeks. Those who were affected by the attack should be contacted soon, though TalkTalk has yet to get around to everyone.

KitGuru Says: This TalkTalk attack has been quite the story over the last couple of weeks. I know a couple of our readers have been using TalkTalk and aren't pleased about the situation. Were any of you affected by the attack at all?

Via: Wired

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Fourth arrest made in TalkTalk hacking case https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/fourth-arrest-made-in-talktalk-hacking-case/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/fourth-arrest-made-in-talktalk-hacking-case/#respond Wed, 04 Nov 2015 20:43:52 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=274153 The police have been really cracking down on the people behind the TalkTalk hack a couple of weeks back, with four people now arrested in total. Yesterday, police made their way to Norwich to arrest and search the home of a 16 year old connected to the crime, which saw the details of thousands of …

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The police have been really cracking down on the people behind the TalkTalk hack a couple of weeks back, with four people now arrested in total. Yesterday, police made their way to Norwich to arrest and search the home of a 16 year old connected to the crime, which saw the details of thousands of TalkTalk customers accessed, presumably to either use as part of a scam or to sell on.

At this point, a 15 year old, two 16 year olds and a 20 year old man have been arrested in connection to the hack. They have all been taken in under the Computer Misuse Act, though nobody has been proven 100% guilty just yet.

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Additionally, a government inquiry is looking in to the hack, along with current cyber security measures in order to figure out exactly how this happened and come up with ways for companies to better protect themselves and user-data.

TalkTalk has since detailed how many details were accessed during the hack. In total, around 21,000 people had their bank account numbers and sort codes taken, while 28,000 credit or debit card numbers were also taken, though these were encrypted. 15,000 dates of birth and 1.2 million email addresses, names and phone numbers were also taken as part of the hack.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Four people have been arrested so far for supposedly taking part in this cyber attack, so this seems like it may have been a fairly large and coordinated effort. Are any of you using TalkTalk as your ISP?

Via: Wired

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Second person arrested in TalkTalk hack investigation https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/second-person-arrested-in-talktalk-hack-investigation/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/second-person-arrested-in-talktalk-hack-investigation/#respond Fri, 30 Oct 2015 13:24:00 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=273617 The UK police have managed to track down and arrest a second suspect in the TalkTalk hacking case, which saw the personal information of the ISP's customers stolen. The second suspect was arrested in London on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences after detectives searched his home. The first arrest was made on Monday in …

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The UK police have managed to track down and arrest a second suspect in the TalkTalk hacking case, which saw the personal information of the ISP's customers stolen. The second suspect was arrested in London on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences after detectives searched his home. The first arrest was made on Monday in Northern Ireland.

While the first suspect was 15 years old, the second suspect is 16. We don't know if police found evidence at the 15 year old's premises but the second suspect was arrested following a search of his house, so presumably the police found something there connecting him to the crime.

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At the time of the attack, TalkTalk said that the hackers could have potentially taken the financial and user data of all four million customers. Some of the information wasn't encrypted either, which makes matters worse. Unfortunately, TalkTalk is refusing to let anyone out of their ISP contract following this hack, unless they can prove they lost money as a direct result of their information being stolen, according to a few reports.

The police have also searched a third home in Liverpool in connection to the hack, though as far as we know right now, a third arrest has not been made.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Once again, this is a case of innocent until proven guilty, after all, we don't have all the facts yet. Are any of you using TalkTalk right now? Are you going to try and get out of your contract after this hack?

Via: The BBC

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UK Police make arrest in high-profile TalkTalk hacking case https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/uk-police-make-arrest-in-high-profile-talktalk-hacking-case/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/uk-police-make-arrest-in-high-profile-talktalk-hacking-case/#respond Tue, 27 Oct 2015 15:00:57 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=273251 The UK police have managed to track down and arrest a suspect in the TalkTalk hacking case, which saw the financial information of customers stolen. The suspect is just 15 years old and was arrested in Northern Ireland, the police's own report also says that the boy's premises will be searched today and interviews will start …

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The UK police have managed to track down and arrest a suspect in the TalkTalk hacking case, which saw the financial information of customers stolen. The suspect is just 15 years old and was arrested in Northern Ireland, the police's own report also says that the boy's premises will be searched today and interviews will start taking place to find out more information.

TalkTalk officially began talking about the cyber attack on the 22nd of October, with the CEO of the company saying that its four million customers were all potentially at risk. However, after some investigation, the ISP revealed that the amount of information stolen was not as bad as first believed. 

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Less data was stolen in total and most of the user information that was taken was encrypted. The ISP speculated that whoever was behind the hack may attempt to contact TalkTalk customers posing as a bank representative in order to trick them in to handing additional information over, which would then allow them to access bank accounts.

It is important to note that while someone was arrested, they have yet to be proven guilty so there is potentially even more information to come.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This hack may have been blown a little out of proportion at first but it seems that the police were quick to crack down on it. While someone has been arrested, it is important to remember that they haven't been proven guilty just yet. 

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TalkTalk hack was apparently ‘not as bad’ as first thought https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/talktalk-hack-was-apparently-not-as-bad-as-first-thought/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/talktalk-hack-was-apparently-not-as-bad-as-first-thought/#respond Mon, 26 Oct 2015 22:00:54 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=273110 Last week it emerged that TalkTalk was hacked, causing a significant amount of personal and financial user data to be stolen. Now though, the ISP is looking to calm its four million customers by claiming that the cyber attack was ‘not as bad' as previously thought. In an update on the TalkTalk site, the financial …

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Last week it emerged that TalkTalk was hacked, causing a significant amount of personal and financial user data to be stolen. Now though, the ISP is looking to calm its four million customers by claiming that the cyber attack was ‘not as bad' as previously thought. In an update on the TalkTalk site, the financial data stolen from its database was “materially lower” than expected.

While the hack may not be as bad as first thought, there are still ‘up to' four million customers potentially at risk, which is pretty damn bad. Though the financial data the hackers managed to grab is not enough on its own to access any bank accounts.

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According to TalkTalk's CEO, these attackers may be planning to pose as bank staff in order to ring up customers and trick them in to handing over more information, which would then allow them to access bank accounts.

Unfortunately at this time, TalkTalk has yet to confirm exactly what data was stolen and whether or not it was properly encrypted. Additionally, investigations are still under way but for now, we don't know who was behind this attack.

KitGuru Says: The TalkTalk hack was big news when it came to light on Friday evening. This could also end up being pretty bad for the ISPs customers. Are any of you currently on TalkTalk? Would you trust them with your data after this breach? 

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TalkTalk website hit with major data breach, receives ransom note https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/talktalk-website-hit-with-major-data-breach-receives-ransom-note/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/talktalk-website-hit-with-major-data-breach-receives-ransom-note/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2015 18:00:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=272877 Telecoms operator TalkTalk has been hit by what has been described by police as a “significant”, attack on its website, resulting in the potential leaking of banking and personal data for some or all of the company's four million customers around the UK. While police and online-crime divisions are investigating the attack, so far no arrests …

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Telecoms operator TalkTalk has been hit by what has been described by police as a “significant”, attack on its website, resulting in the potential leaking of banking and personal data for some or all of the company's four million customers around the UK. While police and online-crime divisions are investigating the attack, so far no arrests have been made and TalkTalk is still trying to come to terms with how bad the breach may have been.

In the mean time, TalkTalk has published a list of information that may have been accessed by those responsible. It's rather exhaustive, covering everything from names, addresses and dates of birth, right through to account information and credit and banking details. While the telecoms provider did state that some of the more high-risk personal data was encrypted, not all of it was.

As expected this has a lot of customers worried and it will likely see some move on to TalkTalk competitors even if it is too late to save their data. This outlook was reflected in the company share prices which dropped 10 per cent in the hours after the news broke (via BBC).

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The latest news is that a ransom notice was sent to Talk Talk on behalf of a group claiming responsibility for the hack. Presumably it is demanding payment in return for not publishing customer information, though neither TalkTalk or the police have revealed much in the way of details.

For now TalkTalk is recommending all customers change their password on the TalkTalk site (when it's back up) and anywhere else they may have reused that same information.

KitGuru Says: I wonder if this is at all related to the DDOS ransom attacks we saw against several UK tech retailers in the past few days?

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TalkTalk warning customers that data may be compromised https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/talktalk-warning-customers-that-data-may-be-compromised/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/matthew-wilson/talktalk-warning-customers-that-data-may-be-compromised/#respond Sat, 28 Feb 2015 13:59:26 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=238051 TalkTalk is currently warning its customers that its servers were breached recently and user data may have been compromised. According to the UK ISP, cyber thieves may have been able to get their hands on account numbers and personal information, such as names and date of birth. Now with these details in hand, some scammers …

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TalkTalk is currently warning its customers that its servers were breached recently and user data may have been compromised. According to the UK ISP, cyber thieves may have been able to get their hands on account numbers and personal information, such as names and date of birth.

Now with these details in hand, some scammers are trying to get TalkTalk customers to give up their bank details. The breach should only have affected a few thousand customers but apparently the company is planning on warning its entire customer base anyway.

TalkTalk

TalkTalk picked up on the data theft after observing a big rise in customer complaints over scam phone calls between October and December last year. Speaking with The BBC, a TalkTalk spokesperson gave a comment: “We have now concluded a thorough investigation working with an external security company, and we have become aware that some limited non-sensitive information may have been illegally accessed in violation of our security procedure.”

The scammers were granted access to TalkTalk data via a third-party who apparently had access. Stolen information includes names, addresses, phone numbers but no payment data was stolen.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: It is probably worth passing this information around, some of you may know people who could be tricked in to giving up their bank details when called up. Community awareness is usually the best way to combat something like this.

Source: The BBC

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Tesco is giving up on Blinkbox https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/tesco-is-giving-up-on-blinkbox/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/tesco-is-giving-up-on-blinkbox/#respond Tue, 27 Jan 2015 14:34:49 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=232679 Over the last few months, Tesco has been winding down on its loss-making digital download service, Blinkbox. The movie watching side of the business was sold off to TalkTalk a few weeks ago but Tesco still owned Music and Books services, which are now either being sold off or shut down. Blinkbox Music has been …

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Over the last few months, Tesco has been winding down on its loss-making digital download service, Blinkbox. The movie watching side of the business was sold off to TalkTalk a few weeks ago but Tesco still owned Music and Books services, which are now either being sold off or shut down.

Blinkbox Music has been sold off to Guvera, a music streaming company that has been operating on an ad supported model since 2008, while Blinkbox Books will be shut down after talks with books retailer, Waterstones, failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

bb-group-2-1024x585

With all three arms of the digital download service either sold off or shut down entirely, Tesco's affiliation with Blinkbox is officially over. Tesco started off with Blinkbox several years ago in an effort to take on the likes of iTunes, Spotify and even Netflix, unfortunately for the company, the move failed to pay off.

TalkTalk may have better luck with Blinkbox movies, although it may be rebranded under a new name and bundled with another service.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Tesco's financial situation has taken a dive recently so selling off the failing parts of its business is a smart move. Did any of you guys use Blinkbox? I imagine the quality of the service just couldn't match up to that of the bigger competitors.

Source: Engadget

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Sky, TalkTalk and Three join list of potential O2 buyers https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/sky-talktalk-and-three-join-list-of-potential-o2-buyers/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/sky-talktalk-and-three-join-list-of-potential-o2-buyers/#respond Wed, 21 Jan 2015 14:00:42 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=231713 Sky, TalkTalk and Three are all interested in acquiring the O2 network. Sky and TalkTalk both want to launch their own mobile businesses in order to compete with the likes of BT, which recently snapped up EE, the largest network in the UK. Hutchinson Whampoa, owner of Three, is planning a £9 billion bid to …

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Sky, TalkTalk and Three are all interested in acquiring the O2 network. Sky and TalkTalk both want to launch their own mobile businesses in order to compete with the likes of BT, which recently snapped up EE, the largest network in the UK.

Hutchinson Whampoa, owner of Three, is planning a £9 billion bid to take over O2. Reports are saying that investment bank, UBS AG, has been hired to explore options for O2, as the company is looking to exit the UK thanks to a £50 billion debt.

o2_logo_600x400

If O2 and Three were to combine, then it would create the largest network in the UK, which also means that the acquisition could face opposition due to anti-competitive laws. Additionally, Three buying O2 would also mean that four out of five 4G spectrum bidders will have merged, which the government might not be too happy about.

Other operators may not like a Three-O2 merger either, Vodafone was already worried when BT acquired EE, reportedly asking Ofcom to keep tabs on BT's business practices.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Sky or TalkTalk would likely face less opposition if either company were to buy O2, Three on the other hand already has its place in the mobile market and may not be allowed to purchase O2 due to anti-trust concerns. 

Source: The Inquirer

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Talktalk is throlling Imgur in the name of the children https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/talktalk-is-throlling-imgur-in-the-name-of-the-children/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/talktalk-is-throlling-imgur-in-the-name-of-the-children/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2014 08:21:04 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=185458 Net Neutrality is quite a hot topic around the internet based world at the moment, as it seems America and other countries may see the future as a gated community of permissions and access hierarchy and a lot of people aren't happy with it. Similarly, not many people are happy about some dubious throttling that's …

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Net Neutrality is quite a hot topic around the internet based world at the moment, as it seems America and other countries may see the future as a gated community of permissions and access hierarchy and a lot of people aren't happy with it. Similarly, not many people are happy about some dubious throttling that's been taking place in the UK, with TalkTalk throttling back Imgur because of – you guessed it – the children.

While it isn't throttling the site in a traditional sense, the problem comes when an image deemed illegal or offensive is detected on the site. At that point TalkTalk funnels it through a single server so can block the images any time someone tries to access the particularly offending URL. However because of the checks and compartmentalisation of the site, the whole site comes to a standstill for TalkTalk customers.

A lot of people have been complaining on the official forums, with one member posting a reply they got to an email complaint. It reads: “We currently block URLs recommended by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) that contain child abuse imagery. Due to the way we block these links, we are aware that some users may experience intermittent issues accessing some hosting sites for the days when a sub-URL, or content that is being hosted on that site, has been placed on the IWF list.”

56k
Ah, it brings me right back to my 56k days

“We know that recently some customers had issues for a few days when trying to access WordPress for this reason. This issue only happens for the duration that the URL is being blocked and most hosting sites are extremely responsive in taking down the offensive content once it has been identified. We know this is very inconvenient for customers affected and we are working on an improvement to how we block the IWF list that is intended to stop this happening in the future. We hope this will launch very soon and we will keep you updated with news.”

That same user also contacted the IWF to confirm this, and it said that it does provide a list of URLs for companies to take into consideration, but that it doesn't do so to facilitate blocking at an IP or domain level. Ultimately it said, there is no reason a whole site should suffer because of a handful of images.

Wired got in touch with TalkTalk to discuss the problem and was told that the ISP was working on improvements to the issue and hoped that it wouldn't happen again in the future. It also apologised to affected customers.

KitGuru Says: It seems that other ISPs are able to take part in selective filtering without causing problems for anyone that visits the site in question. You'd think TalkTalk would be able to do the same. 

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What does broadband cost these days? https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jules/what-does-broadband-cost-these-days/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jules/what-does-broadband-cost-these-days/#respond Tue, 17 Sep 2013 06:28:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=152706 Like all of you, KitGuru inboxes get hammered with a spread of promotions at a constant level. Once in a while, we cast our eye on something that actually gets you thinking. This morning's thought is broadband related. KitGuru shines a torch on the dark fibres. Possibly one of the greatest dividers for modern society …

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Like all of you, KitGuru inboxes get hammered with a spread of promotions at a constant level. Once in a while, we cast our eye on something that actually gets you thinking. This morning's thought is broadband related. KitGuru shines a torch on the dark fibres.

Possibly one of the greatest dividers for modern society is one where you do or don't know what a dial-up connection sounds like. Flashback to the film Wargames and a world of geeks looked at how easily Matthew Broderick hooked his computer into a 1200 baud connection with envy [Baud? Look it up – Ed]. Computers just weren't connected. Then the 56k Fax/Modem arrived and we all amassed huge bills at one penny a minute.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0′]

From the initial broadband offers (BT's Alcatel green ‘frog' ADSL offering 512kb/sec etc), we have seen two huge leaps: First at the high end, where previously undreamed of speeds are happening in the fibre-sphere and, second, in the area of mass-market availability/affordability. The idea of ‘everyone' having access to broadband, no matter where you are or what your budget is.

One thing that will help here is the move to 4G by the mobile phone networks. We all have phones anyway, so if you could tether your PC/laptop/iPad to a mobile device which is offering unlimited access that can be measured in ‘tens of megabits a second' – that could be cool.

How fast might that be?   Well, in a recent BBC report, the Beeb Boffins were getting around 10Mb/sec on Vodafone's feeble network, while Everything Everywhere peaked at just over 60Mb/sec. If that was stable and available, it's certainly fast enough for most applications.

So what peaked our interest this morning?

Well, we're not going to get into the whole ‘recommend a telco' game – every network has its own horror stories – but getting 6Mb/sec broadband with your phone line, unlimited landline calls at the weekend and in the evening for less than £20 a month seems pretty good.  We know it says £3.75 – but there are many things to add in order to get a ‘real price'. That said, it does include a £75 high street voucher for all that high street shopping you do. You know. Outside. Remember outside?

They say unlimited, but they have never had 'Zardon-the-Download-i-Nator' sucking on their pipes
They say unlimited, but they have never had ‘Zardon-the-Download-i-Nator' sucking on their pipes

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KitGuru says: We would like to hear from anyone out there who doesn't have broadband, but we guess that's as useful an invitation as asking people in a remote village to call in – when they don't have phones. If you do get a second, please vote in our latest poll (over on the right), we would love to get a feel for your fibre.

Comment below, in the KitGuru forums or join us over on Facebook.

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David Cameron’s favourite porn filter is Chinese https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/david-camerons-favourite-porn-filter-is-chinese/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/david-camerons-favourite-porn-filter-is-chinese/#comments Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:58:50 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=144367 We talked about the automatic porn filters David Cameron wants all ISPs to implement a couple of days ago and boy did it get you guys riled up. Understandably so as well. We're talking about a government censoring the internet, that always makes us mad. However, the government won't actually have much to do with it, …

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We talked about the automatic porn filters David Cameron wants all ISPs to implement a couple of days ago and boy did it get you guys riled up. Understandably so as well. We're talking about a government censoring the internet, that always makes us mad. However, the government won't actually have much to do with it, since it wants private companies to handle it, like the Chinese one currently managing TalkTalk's voluntary filter.

Any mention of China and the internet is sure to put the scare in people, because that Eastern nation doesn't exactly have a great reputation when it comes to a free and open internet – or human rights. Hower Huawei, the company in question, has received a lot of praise from Mr Cameron; he's a big fan.

That said, he doesn't want to force a filter choice on ISPs, just the filter itself. Essentially what he's doing, is giving ISPs (private companies) the ability and legal right to filter the internet to customer as they see fit. This, understandably, hasn't sat well with everyone.

cameron
‘Have you people any idea how much time I waste looking at porn? It must be banned.' – David Cameron

Dr Martyn Thomas, chair of IT policy at the Institution of Engineering and Technology said while speaking with the BBC: “It needs to be run by an organisation accountable to a minister so it can be challenged in Parliament.”

As he continued to point out, there are business interests at threat with a filter run by a private company: “You could easily imagine a commercial organisation finding itself on that blacklist wrongly, and where they actually lost a lot of web traffic completely silently and suffered commercial damage. The issue is who gets to choose who's on that blocking list, and what accountability do they have?”

Who's to say TalkTalk, or any of the other ISPs (or the potentially foreign firms they hire to manage the filter) wouldn't block their competitor's websites? That would be a bit obvious, but it could be easily done.

However there are potential problems already, with TalkTalk's filtering firm Huawei. While the ISP is happy with its relationship and David Cameron has got butterflies in his tummy, the Chinese firm has been linked with the ruling party in China and some have even gone so far as to say that Huawei is a threat to national security. While the president of the company denies any involvement with the Chinese government, the founder of Huawei is a former member of the China's People's Liberation Army and many people are concerned with its rapid expansion in the UK.

KitGuru Says: If TalkTalk already has a voluntary filter in place, why can't parents just sign up for that if they want to block things for their kids, or look into a third party bit of software? Why does the prime minister of a country feel the need to weigh in on pornography and private business practices? Go and sign an energy deal or a peace treaty or something and leave our porn alone.

It seems so ridiculous that a man who's championed “big society,” over big government, feels that the politicians shouldn't be that involved in the lives of people, except when it comes to pornography and drugs. The hypocrisy that people should be given the ability to pull themselves up, not helped up, but yet told they can't do certain things that only affect them is ridiculous. 

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Talk Talk is the worst ISP, again https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/talk-talk-is-the-worst-isp-again/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/talk-talk-is-the-worst-isp-again/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:00:29 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=109769 Talk Talk has been crowned the king of horrible ISPs, after it was announced that it had received the most complaints about its services between Apil and June this year. For every 100,000 customers, it received 42 complaints for its broadband – comparative service Sky, received only 10. It wasn't just its internet customers that …

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Talk Talk has been crowned the king of horrible ISPs, after it was announced that it had received the most complaints about its services between Apil and June this year. For every 100,000 customers, it received 42 complaints for its broadband – comparative service Sky, received only 10.

It wasn't just its internet customers that it angered the most however, with landline customers also complaining more than any other. For every 100,000, 53 people complained. The least complained about service was Virgin, with just 14 per 100,000.

Talk Talk
Booooo

While OfCom doesn't plan to take any action in this situation, this report does highlight for customers of the service that they are with the worst of the bunch. Of course 53 out of every 100,000 isn't a massive number, but it might be enough to make you switch.

A Talk Talk spokesperson said (via The Telegraph): “We recognise that there is still work to do and we are continually pushing through improvements. Technical faults are fixed faster, more support is being offered when customers move house, and our online support system, which now accounts for 70 per cent of customer contacts, is being further enhanced.”

In other categories Talk Talk did fair a little better: Three was the the most complained about mobile provider and BT Vision received the most complains of all pay-TV services.

KitGuru Says: Are you a Talk Talk customer? If so we'd love to hear what your experience with it has been like. Let us know below or on the KitGuru Facebook page.

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