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| Going down..... |
LATEST: So you REALLY want to dump Talk Talk? NOT SO FAST, there are a few hoops to get through:
The Legal Department
TalkTalk Group
P.O. Box 346
Southampton
SO30 2PW
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Julian Bray writes: What on earth is going on with Talk Talk? No, I don’t mean the attacks on the website and the alleged theft of millions of past and present subscribers personal details and the early Christmas that’s been gifted to many thousands of fraudsters busily draining banks accounts of needy pensioners and ‘the computer says no’ when to frantically stem the outflow of funds from personal accounts, the by now starving and frozen to near death widower is being charged an extra £250 just to end the contract early and save whatever is left in the bank.
Talk Talk says: In the unlikely event that money is stolen from a customer’s bank account as a direct result of the cyber attack (rather than as a result of any other information given out by a customer) then as a gesture of goodwill, on a case by case basis, we will waive termination fees.
For us to consider your request to leave without a termination fee, you will need to meet the following criteria:- You have had money taken from your account without your consent and you have incurred a financial loss as a result.
- The money was taken on or after the 21st October 2015.
- Contacted Action Fraud UK and obtained a Crime Reference Number.
- The crime reference number from Action Fraud UK.
- A copy of your proof of the fraudulent bank transaction.
The Legal Department
TalkTalk Group
P.O. Box 346
Southampton
SO30 2PW
----------------------------------
Julian Bray writes: What on earth is going on with Talk Talk? No, I don’t mean the attacks on the website and the alleged theft of millions of past and present subscribers personal details and the early Christmas that’s been gifted to many thousands of fraudsters busily draining banks accounts of needy pensioners and ‘the computer says no’ when to frantically stem the outflow of funds from personal accounts, the by now starving and frozen to near death widower is being charged an extra £250 just to end the contract early and save whatever is left in the bank.
No it’s none of the above, but the bizarre media antics on
all screens of a seemingly mousey woman with a cheap M&S suit, scruffy haircut,
devoid of makeup and allegedly some kind of Baroness.
It seems that the CEO of Talk Talk might have been spending
too much time in the House of Lords and not enough time keeping a beady eye onwhat’s been happening with the Talk Talk beomoth megadisaster. Over the last weekwe’ve experienced a text book example that is bound to be the target of mediastudies exams for the next fifty years.
In fact it’s been so catastrophic its required viewing and
listening. The scriptwriters of BH or Boston Legal couldn’t come up with better
storylines. It’s an amazing catalogue of how not to do it. It’s not that I’ve anything
against ‘Baroness Dodo Hardup’ but in
the name of all that’s digital why repeatedly go on countless television and
radio news networks putting out a different story for each network and happily providing
shedloads of cannon fodder for the Red Tops and ‘ahem ‘serious’ financial commentators
the following day? Both sets of hacks would have left for the pub early thanks
to the gold they could easily mine from the acres of prize gaffs dropped by the
doughty Baroness.
jaw permanently dropped, I watched with fascination as the
drama unfolded, repeatedly the scruffy Baroness (where did she get that
outfit?) exposed the shallow depth of her technical knowledge to many millions
of viewers and alarming many more millions of Talk Talk customers and ex-Talk Talk
customers? Here’s a free years’ worth of credit checking, so you’ll be first to
know when the scammers have emptied your account…… OMG!
Was personal financial information encrypted? The lame “Don’t
know” was the response, then a bit of bluster and trying to take on experienced
IT savvy commentators. No doubt she’ll say her expensive City advisers told her
to do the media one on one. all day tour. It clearly works for Authors plugging books, and jobbing actors
plugging films, why not Talk Talk plugging bloody great holes in its data
networks?
But surely the idea is to mitigate the damage not pour several of tankers worth of premium high octane petrol on the campfire flames?
But surely the idea is to mitigate the damage not pour several of tankers worth of premium high octane petrol on the campfire flames?
If you think I’m being unfair on the Baroness then consider
she is supposed to be the Chief Executive Officer of a huge highly sensitive data
network, the custodian of millions of personal financial dreams, savings
wrecked and accounts seeming looted. Targets for scammers.
The best has to be “I’ve had a ransom demand…” R A N S O M ????? What planet is she on? You could see her physically and mentally breakdown by the time she arrived at the Channel 4 News Studio, pleading with Cathy Newman that’s she’s had a hard day with media duties!!!!! She is the CEO for XXXX’s sake.
The best has to be “I’ve had a ransom demand…” R A N S O M ????? What planet is she on? You could see her physically and mentally breakdown by the time she arrived at the Channel 4 News Studio, pleading with Cathy Newman that’s she’s had a hard day with media duties!!!!! She is the CEO for XXXX’s sake.
But having ripped into the hapless Baroness.
With hindsight what should have been done?
As soon as the breach was detected call a crisis management
team buttonhole the IT geeks who are
supposed to be in charge and prepare a full and honest press statement. Release
it on the City Regulatory News Service , then one minute later on Press Association. Immediate call ONE major news conference at a
Central London location. Assemble a panel of technical geeks and qualified financial
people who are at the centre of Talk Talk accounting, and know how the software
works!
PR people should have already as part of any major brief put
the Baroness through an intensive media presentational training course. Yes,
it extends to her personal appearance and grooming. The major news
conference starts with a full unvarnished statement of where they are at.
Questions are answered from the floor and if it’s technical or geeky then the
IT geek answers it. If the Baroness is technically proficient then and only
then can she answer. Otherwise she is
there to direct traffic as it were. NOTHING MORE.
Grooming: CEO’s earn
a fair wedge, it not what we experienced on the TV screen, she was dressed more
for the monthly WI meeting. That hair hadn’t seen a decent cut in months, and as
for make up. What happened? Studio lights do strange things to people, why do
you think even the most urbane presenters on the telly wear make up and have the
lacquer spray handy?
Once the press conference is over, the ongoing deluge of media
requests for interviews are referred back to the press conference footage and
the pooled audio. One simple consistent story, stuffed full of available
factual information, backed up by written statements, handled by experienced
press relations people.
And on top of all that ITV and Simon Cowells X-factor show
cannot be best pleased they are caught up in the middle of this financial mess.
Mud when its thrown invariably sticks. Mercifully for Simon, someone at ITV pulled the Talk Talk Commercials themed bumper-breaks.....phew!
As if that isn’t enough many local authorities are planning
to cut back their own computer rooms and IT staffing and transfer all their (IE YOUR) personal financial information to the
Amazon (AWS) owned Cloud based computers somewhere in the USA near Las Vegas. If you think the Talk Talk data theft is a problem
just wait until the scammers pick up on the wealth of intimate financial,
medical and welfare data just waiting to be hacked. Its not only Christmas but untold
treasures for scammers for years to come. The sad point is no one is doing anything
about it, well, until its too late.
©Julian Bray 2015
Meanwhile, Customers at Barclays Bank have had trouble getting cash out of their accounts and making payments this weekend, when the bank hit by a glitch as it worked on its ancient legacy computing systems before the clocks changed.
Barclays tweeted on Saturday that it was ‘experiencing technical issues’ and were being ‘investigated urgently’, but customers on Sunday were tweeting in response that they were still experiencing problems in accessing money.
Geeks employed by the Bank stressed the latest problem was an internal one and not caused by external hacking of its computer networks.
JULIAN BRAY +44(0)1733 345581, Aviation Expert, Journalist, Broadcaster, Aviation Security & Airline Operations Expert, Travel / Maritime & Cruise Industry, NUJ, EQUITY, LIVE ISDN LINK, Broadcast ISDN COOBE ++44 (0)1733 345020 (ALL CODECS) e&oe Old faithful NOKIA: 07944 217476 iPhone 0743 530 3145 www.aviationcomment.com Contrib. Account #104764 53 FEED: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BraysDuckhouseBlog
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