£100,000 Fine for Failing to Secure Customer Data

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined TalkTalk after details for 21,000 people were exposed to fraudsters.

It was found that TalkTalk failed to protect the information and unnecessarily allowed staff access to huge amounts of data which was then passed to unscrupulous third parties.
 
The security breach was first discovered in September 2014 when TalkTalk customers started complaining about receiving calls from scammers who pretended they were supporting technical issues. They sounded convincing because they had the customers’ addresses and TalkTalk account numbers.
 

What Happened to IT Security?

The breach happened because the security measures put in place to protect customers’ data were totally inadequate. It proves that even large multinationals are still failing to safeguard one of the most valuable assets an organisation can have – their customer data.
 
As the number of potential threats increases, through cyber attacks, phishing emails or unscrupulous staff, every organisation has to be sure their IT security is not left to chance.
 
Vantage IT can offer advice on your IT security to help protect your valuable assets. Please contact us now to discover how we can help.