So how does that work? Give us 10 million and you can have your data back. Whats stopping them from copying the data and releasing it anyway

Must be stupid if they think TT will pay it. Doesnt stop the data being released

I notice that they haven't said whether the credit card / bank details were encrypted.

Their FAQ states that not all data are encrypted, but did not state which one.

Well precisely. Couldn't agree more.

In reply to a post by hypertony:

Their FAQ states that not all data are encrypted, but did not state which one.

PR speak for "nothing was encrypted."

Edited by arfster (Fri 23-Oct-15 14:10:49)

In reply to a post by arfster:

PR speak for "nothing was encrypted."

They have a huge problem if that's the case: https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/the-data-protecti...

Interestingly, the last FAQ on their page: http://help2.talktalk.co.uk/oct22incident

Q: Has TalkTalk breached the Data Protection Act?

A: No, this is a criminal attack. We have notified the ICO and we will work closely with them over the coming weeks and months.

makes me wonder if they know what they're talking about.

Exactly. Once they have the data, they're not just going to delete it if they get a ransom.

In reply to a post by bobble_bob:

So how does that work? Give us 10 million and you can have your data back. What's stopping them from copying the data and releasing it anyway. Must be stupid if they think TT will pay it. Doesn't stop the data being released

The objective of this data theft may simply be to ruin TalkTalk. No need to use that stolen data per se. Just create the threat that confidential data will be released online, and watch the swelling customer anger!

In other words, the data theft is just a means to an end. Even the "ransom demand" sounds flaky; very 1970s-ish!

What definitely matters is the damaging media coverage. The reputational damage to TalkTalk. And ultimately the customer haemorrhage. The real objectives of this rogue operation.

With that in mind...

Media talking heads are pointing the finger of suspicion at a TalkTalk rival as key suspect in this crime.

A rival telco - or a stakeholder interest in it - with a determination to ruin and ultimately eliminate TalkTalk from the telco business.

Rizla, a seasoned commentator on the Kitz forum, predicts that TalkTalk will never recover from this. Giving the telco just twelve months before it's driven out of business.

-----------

We might reasonably suspect this is the handiwork of rogue elements in the security-intelligence apparatus. Using a "cyber-terror" cut-out from the private sector. One nominally domiciled overseas to evade detection. Obscuring the crime trail. An "Islamic group of Russian hackers" maybe (snigger!)

What this doubtless involves is accomplices within TalkTalk itself; gaining access to its back-office systems. Allowing them to copy, or so we're told, all 64 CRM databases. Before tipping off the conniving press to that data breach; fomenting this huge brouhaha.

In practice, the rogues have already succeeded. By design, it's a huge PR disaster for TalkTalk; customers are justifiably anxious and angry. And Rizla over at Kitz could well be right. The clock may now be ticking for the company as a whole.

So let us sit back and watch what unfolds. Observe the collapse in TalkTalk's share price; plunging a whopping 11.55% already this morning:

Talktalk Telecom Group PLC
LON: TALK - 23 Oct 2015 09:00 GMT+1
240.70 Price decrease - 27.80 (11.55%)

By contrast, just four days earlier Credit Suisse was talking up the stock; hinting at a "34% potential upside" to 400p a share.

There is also a derivatives trade in TalkTalk stock; e.g. over-the-counter put options. Allowing insider-traders - e.g. short-selling hedge fund owners - pre-positioned with foreknowledge of this "cyber-attack" -- to profit from the bad press that followed and the plunging TalkTalk stock price.

And, there, we may find the true masterminds of this organised crime -- besuited gangsters in the City of London - and accomplices in the intelligence sector - the rogues who actually orchestrated this ambush on our beloved TalkTalk.


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Keywords: cyber-terrorism; financial crime; City of London; intelligence; spooks; foreknowledge, insider trading; short-selling, derivatives; put options; hedge funds

Edited by deleted (Sat 24-Oct-15 00:36:36)

They already used the data to steal from customers accounts .....

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/talktalk-...

I wonder how many people had their card details stored. Surely a minority since most people pay via Direct Debit and probably were not asked for their card details at sign up?

The fly in the ointment is perhaps TalkTalk's "Speedy Payment Discount" which offered to save customers 10% if they paid by card a few days before the Direct Debit was taken. This incurs card processing fees for TalkTalk so it's a very odd idea and a facility they will be scrapping soon, and probably a good thing too.