CEO admits TalkTalk failed in estimating security challenge

Dido Harding, the CEO of TalkTalk, has confessed that the telecommunications giant failed to estimate the challenge of implementing adequate cyber security, after the breach that made headlines in 2015.

The breach, which saw 156,656 customers’ records accessed by hackers, cost TalkTalk £60m, and resulted in 95,000 customers leaving the firm.

PwC has carried out an internal evaluation of the firm’s cyber security setup, with Harding saying that the report makes for “sobering” reading.

Harding told the FT:

“We thought we had taken security seriously. We were underestimating the challenge.”

She expressed no regrets over how the company handled the breach, however, claiming the firm was “open and honest from day one”.

She believes that the government should make it compulsory for all firms to report hacks because, as of present, such reports are limited to telecoms groups.

However, Don Hedley, from the technology department at law firm Thomas Eggar, says that compulsory reporting is on the way. According to Hedley, it is a part of the European General Data Protection Regulation, which is believed to be in line for implementation in 2018.

It is worrying for UK consumers that a company as large as TalkTalk admits to underestimating something so important as cyber security. However, there are unfortunately numerous businesses in the UK that continue to do so. Among the most glaring omissions is failing to make sufficient cyber security jobs available. Trained personnel can help their employers avoid such breaches as the one suffered by TalkTalk.