The recent cyber attack on telecoms group TalkTalk could cost up to £35m in one-off costs, the company has revealed.
The hack, which took place last month saw hackers attack the company’s website, stealing 157,000 of its customer’s personal information.
An investigation found that over 15,600 bank account numbers and sort codes had been stolen by the hackers.
TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding told the BBC: “The estimated one-off costs are between £30m and £35m – that’s covering the response to the incident, the incremental calls into our call centres, obviously the additional IT and technology costs, and then the fact that over the last three weeks until yesterday our online sales sites have been down, so there will be lost revenue as a result.”
Harding added that TalkTalk remains “well positioned” to achieve long-term growth.
To reaffirm its commitment to its customers, the company has announced it will be giving each customer a free upgrade, due to the “unavoidable uncertainty caused by the cyber attack last month”.
TalkTalk will also give customers the opportunity to add a selection of options to their package at no extra cost.
From the 1st December, customers can choose to add TV content, unlimited UK landline and mobile calls, a broadband health check or a mobile sim to their contract with no additional commitment.
Also, any customers who were financially affected by the breach will be free to cancel their contracts with TalkTalk without any financial penalty.
So far, four people have been arrested in connection with the cyber attack.