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UK internet providers will lift data caps during COVID-19 pandemic
The UK is echoing others in lifting internet restrictions to keep people online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Major telecoms like BT/EE, Openreach and Virgin Media have struck an agreement that will remove "all" data caps on current landline broadband services. Mobile and fixed providers also have to offer "generous" new packages to help people stay connected (particularly the vulnerable), such as data boosts at lower prices and free calls.
UK police auction TalkTalk hacker's cryptocurrency
A UK police force auctioned off more than £240,000 of cryptocurrency that they confiscated from the teenage hacker behind the 2015 TalkTalk breach. In April 2018, police discovered that Elliott Gunton was stealing personal data in exchange for hundreds of thousands of pounds in cryptocurrency. According to BBC, he admitted to five charges, including computer misuse and money laundering. He was sentenced to 20 months jail time and ordered to pay back £407,359. Apparently he was also sitting on a pretty large stash of cryptocurrency.
UK broadcasters urge the government to create a social media watchdog
A smorgasbord of TV broadcasters, mobile network and internet service providers has urged the UK government to strengthen its oversight of social media companies. In a letter to The Sunday Telegraph, executives from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, as well as Sky, BT and TalkTalk, called for a new, independent regulator to help tackle fake news, child exploitation, harassment and other growing issues online. "We do not think it is realistic or appropriate to expect internet and social media companies to make all the judgment calls about what content is and is not acceptable, without any independent oversight," the collective wrote.
TalkTalk begins winding down its mobile business
TalkTalk is in the process of shutting down its mobile business, effectively ending its tenure as a dedicated quad-play provider. According to MoneySavingExpert, the company has begun notifying customers that they are unable to renew their mobile plan at the end of their contract and is offering special deals to those who switch to O2.
Carphone Warehouse fined £400K for serious 2015 data breach
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is back to doing what it does best today, slapping Carphone Warehouse with a £400,000 fine for a 2015 data breach that exposed the personal information of over 3 million customers and 1,000 staff. It's one of the heftiest invoices the ICO has ever written up, though TalkTalk was fined just as much for failing to protect user data from a cyberattack that same year. Carphone Warehouse suffered a comparably serious breach that affected several of the company's brands. Not only were names, addresses, dates of birth and other personal details exposed, but the "historical" card details of 18,000 customers. According to the ICO, though, "there has been no evidence that the data has resulted in identify theft or fraud."
TalkTalk TV will go multiscreen next year with new streaming app
Sky, Virgin Media and BT all offer their customers ways to watch TV beyond the living room. TalkTalk has an app for its rental and purchase store -- formerly Blinkbox, you might recall -- but otherwise it's fallen behind the pack somewhat. The company is changing that sometime in the first few months of next year, though, when it'll launch new apps that take TalkTalk TV truly multiscreen for the first time.
UK ISPs will automatically compensate customers for shoddy service
A poor level of customer service shown by your broadband or landline provider is like a late train. You know you could probably argue your way into some nominal refund, but it just seems more trouble than it's worth. The issue with that is there's no incentive to ensure the train runs on time, so earlier this year, Ofcom floated the idea that telecoms providers should compensate customers for poor service automatically, no complaints necessary. Today the regulator announced that BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Zen Internet -- which cover 90 percent of broadband and landline customers between them -- have "agreed" to be part of such a scheme.
TalkTalk wants to exit the mobile business
TalkTalk wants to ditch its mobile business and focus on cheap home broadband, according to the Financial Times. The company has long been a 'quad-play' provider, offering TV, mobile, landline and broadband bundles in the UK. You can buy each service individually or combine them to save money, much like Sky, BT and Virgin Media. It's a simple proposition: TalkTalk's bundles are normally cheaper, but in return you have to put up with a slightly inferior service. Now, however, it's looking to give up on mobile altogether, which can only be interpreted as a tactical retreat.
TalkTalk fined £100,000 for long-forgotten 2014 data breach
Enough time has passed that TalkTalk has bounced back from its reputation-damaging data debacle of 2015, which saw hackers steal the personal details of over 150,000 of its customers. That earned the company a £400,000 fine from the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), and today an older data breach in 2014 has cost the company an additional £100,000. The ICO has handed TalkTalk the invoice as a slap on the wrist for failing to adequately protect customer details after third-party support staff were found to have gained "unauthorised and unlawful access to the personal data of up to 21,000 customers."
TalkTalk’s made a simple circular TV remote just for kids
It's never been easier to keep the kids entertained. YouTube, the BBC, Sky, Virgin Media, Disney and more all have apps dedicated to shows for the little ones, and parents can trust everything on there is age-appropriate. TalkTalk has been building a walled playground of its own for kids bounce around in, but for the big screen in the living room, not the coffee-table tablet. Key to this is the new Kids TV Remote launching tomorrow. The £5 peripheral is colourful and simple, with so few buttons that most sprogs should get to grips with it pretty quickly.
Two men admit involvement in the TalkTalk 2015 hack
Two men involved in 2015's TalkTalk hack have pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey court in London. Matthew Hanley, a 22-year-old from Tamworth, Staffordshire, admitted to three offences under the Computer Misuse Act, including the TalkTalk hack itself and obtaining and supplying files that would "enable the hacking of websites to others." He also confessed to supplying a spreadsheet, containing TalkTalk customer details, so that others could commit fraud. Conner Douglas Allsop, also from Tamworth, pleaded guilty on March 30th to assisting fraud and sharing a file that could help other hackers. Both men will be sentenced on May 31st.
UK broadband prices to fall as Ofcom prioritises high speeds
Ofcom says millions of UK broadband customers could soon pay less for superfast broadband under new plans to limit the amount Openreach charges other ISPs to access its fibre network. The communications regulator said today that it wants to slash the cost of new connections for lower tier fibre services (up to 40Mbps) from £88.80 pounds a year to £52.77 in the hope that providers, like BT and TalkTalk, will pass those savings on to customers.
How the UK plans to block illegal Kodi soccer streams
Last week, at the High Court, the Football Association Premier League (FAPL) was granted stronger powers to crack down on the illegal streaming of English football matches. Instead of chasing websites hosting live players, the League can now block the servers that provide the live feeds, cutting off "Kodi boxes" -- a combination of legitimate media centre software with non-authorised third-party plugins -- and similar IPTV services. But how will it be enforced? Now that the order is publicly available, we can shed some light on how the FAPL intends to utilise its new powers.
YouView's big UI update starts hitting retail set-top boxes
YouView announced a fairly comprehensive update to its set-top box UI last November, but it was actually TalkTalk customers that got almost immediate access to the new look. Today, it's the turn of contract-free retail YouView boxes, starting with the Humax T2000 -- the T1000 and T1010 models will receive it in due course. Several headline improvements have taken place behind the scenes. For one, YouView has completely rebuilt the platform in HTML5 for better responsiveness and faster navigation.
TalkTalk chief Dido Harding is stepping down
After weathering the worst of a major customer hack in October 2015, TalkTalk CEO Dido Harding is stepping down after seven years in charge. In a regulatory announcement today, the provider confirmed that Harding will stay with the company until May, when Tristia Harrison -- who is currently the Managing Director of TalkTalk's Consumer division -- will replace her. To assist with the transition, TalkTalk founder Charles Dunstone will scale back his role at Dixons Carphone and serve as Executive Chairman.
Teenage TalkTalk hacker sentenced
The teenage hacker that played a key role in the 2015 TalkTalk data breach has been sentenced to a 12-month youth rehabilitation order today, after pleading guilty to seven charges under the Computer Misuse Act last month. Alongside a nominal fine, the 17-year-old has also surrendered his iPhone and a computer hard drive to police. As The Guardian reports, the rehabilitation order is intended to "draw him from the lonely confines of a bedroom and that lonely world of computing to a family where his knowledge and skills could be put to good use and to project that out to the wider world."
YouView's major update centres on a faster, more visual UI
BT said earlier this month it would be rolling out a major update to its TV service next year, but it can only do that by following YouView's lead. Today, YouView announced the finer details of the impending platform upgrade, which is coming to all set-top boxes, including TalkTalk's and, of course, BT's. Moving in the same direction as all TV UIs, YouView's has been redesigned to be more visually compelling. Less words and menus, more cards and thumbnails. The EPG remains relatively unchanged, though it's now translucent by default, with whatever's currently playing shown behind it.
TalkTalk hacker pleads guilty to role in 2015 data breach
One of the hackers involved in last year's major TalkTalk breach, which saw over 150,000 customer details stolen including over 15,000 bank details, admitted his role in the attack in Norwich Youth Court today. The seemingly remorseful 17-year-old plead guilty to seven charges under the Computer Misuse Act, though not all were related to the TalkTalk hack.
TalkTalk fined £400K for mistakes that led to 2015 hack
TalkTalk's attempt to shake off its hack-smeared image has been dealt a blow by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office. The regulator has fined the company £400,000 for security failings which allowed hackers to steal the personal data of 156,959 customers. Of that number, 15,656 had their bank account details taken. Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said the telecoms company, which offers broadband, TV and phone services, failed to implement "the most basic security measures" and "could have done more to safeguard its customer information."
TalkTalk scraps line rental to repair hack-damaged brand
TalkTalk's image has suffered since it was hit by a "significant and sustained cyberattack" in June 2015. The hack affected its bottom line too, cutting profits from £32 million to £14 million last May. To aid its recovery, the quad-play provider is attempting a mass reboot today that includes retooled packages, new guarantees and a fresh marketing campaign. The biggest change is an "all-in" pricing model which, similar to Vodafone, bundles in your line rental fee. The company telegraphed this move back in May, and says it'll put "an end to complex, confusing packages."
