Recently, a breach incident that we had previously covered came to light. This is the leak of TalkTalk customer data in 2015. The leak mainly concerned banking information (e.g. bank account numbers, etc.), belonging to 157,000 customers.
At the time, data breaches were punishable by fines of up to $500,000. The UK Data Protection Authority investigated the breach and fined TalkTalk $400,000. It found that there were many flaws in the company’s security systems and practices.
Under current circumstances, a fine of up to 10,000,000 euros could be imposed for the protection of personal data.
But what brought the case back to the forefront is the fact that there were approximately 4,500 customers who were unaware that their information had been exposed.
According to an investigation by BBC Watchdog, the data of 4,545 customers was found exposed online. A simple Google was enough to gain access to information such as names, dates of birth, addresses, telephone numbers, account numbers and other financial details.
These customers had asked the company and it assured them that data had not been breached.
When TalkTalk was informed of the new results of the BBC investigation, it said it was a significant mistake on the company's part.
The company had notified its customers about the breach at the time and offered them solutions to protect their information. But according to the new research , 4,545 customers were apparently incorrectly notified about the incident. It was a real mistake. 99.9% of customers received the correct notification in 2015.
Affected customers will receive a notification of the latest evidence, along with a written apology.
According to TalkTalk, the leaked data was not enough to cause financial damage to customers.
Incidents of customer information being breached by various companies are common. Earlier this month, it was found that the database of Canadian telecommunications company Freedom Mobile was not protected, resulting in the exposure of information from 15,000 customers.
