Police arrested a 15-year-old boy over a cyber attack on telephone
and internet provider TalkTalk, feared to have breached the data of
millions of Britons, Scotland Yard said on Monday.
The teenager
was arrested and held for questioning in Northern Ireland, on suspicion
of Computer Misuse Act offences, according to the Metropolitan Police.
"An
arrest has been made in connection with the investigation into alleged
data theft from the TalkTalk website," a spokesperson for Britain's
Metropolitan Police said.
The boy was apprehended during a raid in
County Antrim by Northern Ireland police officers working with
Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit detectives.
"At the address, a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences," the spokesperson added.
"He
has been taken into custody at a County Antrim police station where he
will later be interviewed. A search of the address is ongoing and
inquiries continue."
More than a tenth of the value of TalkTalk
was wiped off the London Stock Exchange on Monday as traders reacted to
the breach, the third cyber attack in eight months on TalkTalk in which
customers' data has been stolen.
The company has said it is unsure
how many of its four million customers in Britain were affected, but
said that information including customer names, addresses and bank
details could have been compromised.
The attack was described as "significant and sustained" by the company, which said that not all customers' data was encrypted.
"TalkTalk
can confirm that we have been informed by the Metropolitan Police of
the arrest of a suspect in connection with the cyber attack on our
website on October 21" a TalkTalk spokesperson said.
"We know this
has been a worrying time for customers and we are grateful for the
swift response and hard work of the police. We will continue to assist
in the ongoing investigation."
Police are investigating a ransom
demand that was sent to TalkTalk purporting to be from the hacker,
though the firm is unsure if the demand for money was genuine.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Teen hacks TalkTalk
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