A spotlight shines on a company logo at a TalkTalk building in London, Britain. (Photo : Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)
Two weeks after the infamous TalkTalk hack that exposed sensitive user information stolen from its database, the company finally revealed the exact amount of data stolen. TalkTalk revealed that hackers were able to obtain personal information from 156,959 of its customers.
According to Engadget, stolen customer information includes their names, email addresses and phone numbers. TalkTalk added that 15,656 bank account and sort codes from compromised customers were also stolen in the attack. This figure is significantly lower compared to the initial estimate of "less than 21,000."
TalkTalk clarified that 28,000 obscured credit card and debit card number that were stolen cannot be used for any financial transaction.
On its last report, TalkTalk reveal that hackers were able to obtain customer birth date information. This figure did not appear in the company's latest report. Many analysts said that the stolen birth date information might have been added into the 156,959 figure.
The latest figure from TalkTalk reveal that the hack was smaller than originally predicted. When the hack was first discovered, the company estimated that at least a million of its customers were affected.
Although the TalkTalk hack might be considered a small scale attack compared to prolific hacks that crippled major companies, it does open up an argument about the security protocols adopted by companies in order to safeguard their users' information.
As of this writing, police are still investigating who is behind the attack. Four suspects have been arrested. A 15-year-old boy from Northern Ireland, a 16-year-old boy from London, a 16-year-old boy from Norwich and a 20-year-old man from Staffordshire. The suspects will be facing raps for violating the Computer Misuse Act. All the four suspects were released on bail, according to Wired.
