London-based telecommunications company TalkTalk has lost some 250,000 customers, nearly seven percent of its consumers, following its external cyber security breach in October of 2015 and will presumably continue to lose more with the reports of a second breach coming from within the organization. The inside offense – a series of phone scams carried out by TalkTalk employees – comes only months after its initial attack, and with cyber security issues coming from both inside and outside sources, many are questioning the reliability of TalkTalk’s security. In response to the internal problem occurring in India, the company is working with technology consultation business Wipro as well as the local police in an attempt to bring the offenders to justice.
Though company employees stealing data is hardly new, it is nevertheless troubling for a company still recovering from its previous issues in October. Imran Choudhary, consumer insight director of Kantar Worldpanel, believes that “there can be no doubt that it lost potential customers following the major data hack. In order to recover from recent events TalkTalk will need to offer more than just good value.” In order to regain the trust and business of its consumers, TalkTalk must find a way to control and secure customer information.