The recent cyberattack on TalkTalk has spurred concern about the cybersecurity of the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. The arrest of the teenage suspect in relation to the TalkTalk hack has also raised questions about the security of the telecommunications company's system. How has it been possible for a fifteen-year old boy to infiltrate the system of one of Britain's largest companies and steal important information?
In the past year, the United Kingdom has reported a number of cyberattacks, which resulted to thousands of stolen identities. According to a report from Scotsman, 600,000 identities have been stolen from U.K. companies last year. While a specific number has not been disclosed, "tens of thousands" of these identities are being sold in the dark web.
The average price of a Briton's personal details is $30 (£20), according to a Whitehall security official. The details include bank account information needed to steal money from the owner, said a report from The Financial Times. "Today, almost every company is a digital company yet few boards realise just how digital their organisation is and as a result, have not analysed the true risk of suffering a cyber security breach or digital meltdown," chief technology officer for Symantec in EMEA Darren Thompson said.
Symantec, a web security expert, has reported in April this year that there are almost a million threats released online almost everyday. The U.K. telecom company TalkTalk has been under attack last week, and customer data, which included banking details and account numbers, have been stolen from the company.
"The TalkTalk hack exposed issues we see a lot of. There are plenty of questions it raises. Like why would they have held any personal data that was unencrypted? That shouldn't be happening." Justin Harvey of Fidelis, a cyber indecent response firm, said. The chief technology officer said that the companies have to deal with the problem themselves to avoid more serious consequences.
