15-year-old boy arrested in connection with TalkTalk hack

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in Northern Ireland in connection with the hack on mobile operator TalkTalk, which put the banking details of millions of people at risk.

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15-year-old boy arrested in connection with TalkTalk hack

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The Metropolitan police says that the boy was arrested on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences and taken into custody this afternoon.

The arrest came after a search warrant was executed by the Northern Ireland police service, working with the Met's cyber crime unit, at an address in County Antrim.

The boy is being held at a police station ahead of an interview and the search at the property is ongoing.

Last week TalkTalk confirmed that the banking details of over four million consumers may have been stolen following a sustained cyber-attack on its website.

The firm later revealed that it had been contacted by the perpetrators of the fraud demanding a ransom in return for the hacked data and a moratorium on future DDoS attacks.

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Comments: (2)

A Finextra member 

This is kinda crazy. A 15 year old boy.

What will be next? I mean why are companies and banks paying millions for cyber security and consulting about security when all it needs to walk in and grab the crown jewels is a 15 year old boy?!

We need to seriously talk about securing OUR data. Why OURs? Because we are the customers in most cases so they are putting OUR data at risk.

Russell Bell

Russell Bell Director at Fastbase Ltd

A fifteen year old doesn't put the banking details of millions of consumers at risk.  It's the bank (or the mobile operator) who puts them at risk, through their negligence.  Arresting a child to save face, bleurgh.

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