TalkTalk says 'less than 1.2 million' customer details stolen in hack

Exactly one week ago TalkTalk revealed that it had been hit by a "significant and sustained cyberattack," resulting in a wealth of customer data being stolen. Millions of users were potentially affected; a couple of days later, TalkTalk stressed that the amount of financial information obtained was "materially lower than initially believed." So how much information was actually taken? Well, today TalkTalk is ready to talk numbers. For starters, it says "less than 1.2 million" customer email addresses, name and phone numbers were accessed by the attacker(s). Similarly, less than 28,000 obscured credit and debit card details -- the middle six digits shouldn't have been visible -- and less than 21,000 bank account numbers and sort codes. Finally, the company believes less than 15,000 customer dates of birth were taken in the attack. TalkTalk's careful wording means it's difficult to know exactly how many customers were affected, but at least we have some ballpark figures now.

Of course, questions still remain. The recent hack was TalkTalk's third in a year, so CEO Dido Harding faces tough questions about the company's security capabilities and why they've failed on so many occasions. In terms of the people responsible, it seems Scotland Yard is making some headway. Metropolitan Police have arrested two teenagers this week -- a 15-year-old boy from Northern Ireland and a 16-year-old boy from London -- in connection with the case. Both were released on bail, but it's evident investigators have some sense of who was behind this incredibly damaging and embarrassing attack.

[Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images]