Talk Talk website hit by " cyber attack"

News that the TalkTalk website had been hit by a "significant and sustained cyber-attack" broke last week.

The phone and broadband provider, which has more than four million customers in the UK, said bank details and personal information could have been accessed.

But credit and debit card numbers had not been stolen, it said.

"In the unlikely event that money is stolen from a customer's bank account as a direct result of the cyber-attack [rather than as a result of any other information given out by a customer], then as a gesture of goodwill, on a case-by-case basis, we will waive termination fees," the company said on its website.

Compulsory encryption?

At the weekend, TalkTalk's chief executive said the attack was "smaller" than originally thought.

Dido Harding said any credit card details taken would have been partial and the information might not have been enough to withdraw money "on its own".

Card details accessed were incomplete - with many digits appearing as an x - and "not usable" for financial transactions, it added.

Business leaders have called for urgent action to tackle cyber crime in the wake of the TalkTalk attack.

On Monday, MPs said an inquiry would be launched into the cyber-attack that could have put customers' details at risk.

Culture minister Ed Vaizey told the House of Commons the government was not against compulsory encryption for firms holding customer data.

Investigation

On Monday, Scotland Yard said a 15-year-old boy had been arrested in Northern Ireland in connection with the TalkTalk hacking attack.

Metropolitan Police said a house had been searched in County Antrim on Monday afternoon at about 16:20.

The boy was arrested on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences.

He has been taken into custody at Antrim police station and is being questioned by detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

A police statement said this was a joint investigation involving the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and detectives from the Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit (MPCCU).

A criminal investigation was launched on Thursday.