TalkTalk offers free upgrade to all customers in wake of hack

A limited number of the broadband provider's customers were hit by last month's attack, but TalkTalk is trying to placate all of them.

Katie Collins Senior European Correspondent

Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.

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Katie Collins

Nov. 11, 2015 9:44 a.m. PT

2 min read

TalkTalk is trying to kiss and make up.
TalkTalk

TalkTalk is offering all its customers a free upgrade as the UK broadband provider tries to makes amends for last month's cyberattack that exposed personal data to hackers.

Four possible upgrades, announced Wednesday, start in December. They include extra TV content such as movies, a mobile SIM card with a monthly allowance of free texts, data and calls, unlimited UK landline and mobile calls, and a broadband health check by engineers. Customers can pick one of the four.

The company has put the cost of October's cyberattack at £35 million ($53 million), the BBC reported. About 157,000 of TalkTalk's 4 million customers had personal data exposed, and more than 15,600 of those included bank account numbers.

The cyberattack affected a limited number of customers on a practical level, but TalkTalk is offering the free upgrade to all its customers in a bid not lose them to rivals.

"We know that doing what is right for our customers will ensure the best possible outcome for the company over the longer term," CEO Dido Harding said in a statement.

The hack has taken a toll on the company stock. Share prices are down 24 percent since the hack was disclosed, though Harding said the company "remains well positioned to deliver strong and sustainable long term growth."

Four people have been arrested in connection with the hack. The UK government's Culture, Media and Sport Committee has also launched an investigation to examine how to make consumer data less vulnerable and how to more effectively respond to cybercrime.