DETECTIVES have released a 15-year-old boy who was arrested by police investigating an alleged hacking attack on the TalkTalk website.
He was arrested on Monday afternoon at his home in the Ballymena area by the PSNI’s Cyber Crime Unit at the request of Scotland Yard.
The youth was taken to the PACE custody suite at Musgrave PSNI station in Belfast.
The teenager was being questioned about a number of offences under the Computer Misuse Act, following a major breach of the telecoms firm’s website last week.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said the teenager had been bailed until a date in November.
Police have searched his home and have removed a number of items, including a computer.
It will now undergo forensic examination by PSNI officers expert in computer data recovery.
They will take an ‘optical image’ of his hard drive to discover its previous history.
TalkTalk bosses said they shut down their site last week following the “significant and sustained” attack in which customer details may have been stolen.
TalkTalk sent a message to its four million customers
On Friday it said it may have been the target of a ransom demand by the hackers.
The company’s four million customers are being asked to check their accounts for any suspicious activity “over the next few months” and change their passwords.
Following the arrest, TalkTalk said: “We know this has been a worrying time for customers and we are grateful for the swift response and hard work of the police.
“We will continue to assist in the ongoing investigation.”
The breach is the third in a series of cyber attacks on the TalkTalk business.
