News Youth arrested in TalkTalk data breach probe

With someone so pig ignorant at the helm, I could only imagine the amount of finger pointing, blame assigning, scape goating and brick pooping going on in that company right now.

Could customers break the contract on the grounds that the service provided was not fit for purpose.

 

I would guess the not fit for purpose reason wouldn't hold water as the purpose is to provide an Internet connection.

It seems the perp has already been let out on bail, i think i read until November sometime.

 

All I see or ever hear about is Dido Harding, I am beginning to think no one else actually works there.

In this video where I guess she set up the camera on a tripod and ran round to film herself in a completely empty office she is twitching like fiend:



I was tempted to call idiotic child as the perp, the SQL injection is hack level: amateur and the IS leet ransom is such an obvious red herring. Heads should roll, but if so then who would appear in these cringe worthy videos?

 

FTFY

 

Maybe, but not necessarily. I think it would depend strongly on the magistrate hearing the case. Customers are allowed a reasonable expectation that they will be safe doing business with someone, and this is not only a highly publicised case, but it has also come to light that this is now the third time customers data has been put at risk in the last year alone.

I think customers could make a strong argument that their reasonable expectations of service, (ie their data security) have not been met, and under those circumstances their contract has not been fulfilled and is therefore null and void.

TalkTalk will of course publicly refute that and threaten court action to try and scare people into not walking out, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are right. In reality, they have no other choice. If just 5% of people of people quit their contracts and refused to pay penalties, what would TalkTalk do? Start court proceedings against 200,000 people? Simultaneously?

If I was with them I'd leave, (giving my reasons, in writing) and refuse to pay, and let them take me to court if they wanted to - where I would actually go and argue my case. I reckon it's improbable it would even get that far.

That's not legal advise of course, just what I'd do...

 

If it was me, I'd do it on the grounds that TT are in breach of their contract and the Data Protection Act by failing to adequately secure or protect consumer's financial and personal data.

If they were to take it to court, they would find it very hard to argue that three breaches of their databases containing unencrypted financial data in twelve months was fulfilling the requirement under the DPA that all stored information be safe and secure.

Whether that would actually work or not I have no idea, just how I'd go about it.

 

I get the feeling TT would fight it tooth & nail, they probably know if they let one leave without early termination fees there would be an avalanche of people wanting to leave.

 

I find it such a shame that TT have turned out to be completely incompetent, , although I shouldn't have really expected anything else, . We've had a great couple of years with TT, getting the best speed available in our area on ADSL and then upgrading to fibre and having no problems whatsoever. The youview box is pretty decent, and has been used by the parents both to replace the DVD recorder and to stream some films through TT's box office rental thingy.

Always been able to get a deal when renewing the contract too.

Now however, once the current contract is up I think I'll persuade Dad to move elsewhere, and if they get hacked again before that see if we can end early.

If TT refuse to end your contract because of DPA reasons such as above, could they refuse to give you your MAC code until you've paid the leaving fee? Or would they legally have to give you the MAC code and then try and get the moneys back after?

 

D*mnnit, dyslexia...

 

My parents had consistently terrible internet combined with consistently terrible customer service!

 

I know a lot of people have had bad experiences with TalkTalk, but then people have also had problems with BT, Sky, PlusNet etc etc etc.
We've not really had to contact Customer service luckily, and I guess pretty much all speed/connectivity issues must eventually filter down to being BTs problem as it's pretty much all their hardware.


Same as everything else though, loads of people can't stand Hermes, but our Hermes deliveries are probably the best out of all the couriers round here, lady usually arrives at 7:30 to 8am.

 

Just a note on the MAC code things:

I work in Telecoms, and the whole MAC process has gone.

It's now the "Notification of Transfer" or "Gaining Provider Led" system, and doesn't require a MAC code.
You simply go to your new provider and say you want to switch to them.
Pretty much everything from that point is handled by the providers.
The loosing provider needs to provide clear and ample evidence to Ofcom in order to halt the transfer. Being "in contract" is not sufficient cause to halt the process.

GOV put this in play to stop the hostage situations.

 

Not that i expect much from the Dailyfail but reading their article about the kid who supposedly carried out the hack has left me wondering if they can stoop any lower.

They claim he was the son of a single mother, is a violent video game addict and rarely leaves his bedroom, in general it seems the Dailyfail blames 'violent video games' for all the worlds ills, i guess they'll start a campaign soon calling for such games to be banned.

/Rant

 

Their segway into computer games and the favourites ones of mass muderers was hilarious.

Isn't it a shame people are generally unaware of basic fallacies. I wonder if the writers of the article believe the implications they have made about games and those that play them. Do they realise the logical errors they are making. but ignore them because being sensational is a priority over integrity and truth.

Or are they simply as thick as the people who eat it all up?

 

I'd go with they are aware of the fears of the millions who have zero first hand experience with the subject matter of video games and ruthlessly exploit them with clickbait articles to get more ad revenue.

 

I walked from TalkTalk when they took over Pipex and refused to let me leave. I also took back my direct debits (the ones they had taken incorrectly) and although they threatened me with debt recovery and legal action I just told them to do one and nothing came of it.

 

Thanks for that info, good to know.

 

My mother has been on Talktalk for about four years now all told.

In the area that she lives there were no other LLUs and so everywhere you went (and no matter who you went with) you would end up on an appalling BT line that was only capable of about 4mb at the best and at worse you would be pulling around 512k.

Because BT were too tight to upgrade the lines Talktalk and their LLU were the only option. Beforehand I had been with Tiscali and it was throttled all evening and then O2 who were tbh the worst company I have ever had the misfortune with dealing with.

They capped the service @ around 50gb and basically put you on a three strike policy. After suffering with it for around two years they finally sent me the letter telling me I had gone over my bandwidth three times and therefore was not welcome to their service any more.

I then tried Zen, who for £35 a month (O2 was £18.99) allowed me 100gb and did not get snotty when I went over. They even set you up with an account so you can monitor what you are doing.

Eventually (due to a couple of new housing developments) it all went sour and I was lucky to get 1mb. I figured at over £50 a month for internet and the telephone I should be getting better service.

Cue Talktalk, 8mb LLU no limits no caps for £35 a month all in.

What can I say? well, firstly their customer service is dire. Utter tripe, the Bombay Express. However, if you know your way around a router then you're golden.

She's had it for over four years now and has signed up for a new contract twice. On one of them they even sent her a free Youview receiver.

So, I guess it all depends on where you live and what's available, but Talktalk basically saved my (and my mother's) life by finally freeing us from the evil grip of BT.

Seriously it didn't matter where you went or who you signed up with you would end up on the same crappy BT line.