Final TalkTalk breach tally: 4% of customers affected

TalkTalk continues with its practice of updating the public with information regarding the recent data breach on Fridays, and according to the latest update, the total number of customers whose personal details were accessed is 156,959.

“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,” the company shared.

“Of these customers, 15,656 bank account numbers and sort codes were accessed;
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.”

The company has finished notifying all the customers who have had financial details accessed, and will be contacting all other affected customers in the coming days. The notifications will include advice on what they can do to keep themselves safe.

Unfortunately for those who have lost their trust in the company and want to terminate their contract, they will still have to pay a contract cancellation fee.

The Register reported on a recent email exchange between a TalkTalk customer that has been affected by the breach and has had £3,500 stolen from his personal bank account in the wake of it, and a company case manager who offered him £30.20 as a “good will gesture [and] final settlement”, but said that he “would not be able to waive your contract breakage fee if you decide to leave TalkTalk.

Four persons have been arrested in connection with the breach since it happened, but according to the Daily Mail the breach was not exactly planned.

“The TalkTalk hack was just friends having a laugh,” the new outfit reported. Apparently, at least 25 of them had access to the stolen information.

It’s possible that some of them have also sold it, as there are reports that organized criminals are actively using it to scam affected users, especially older ones.