TalkTalk Hack: Police Arrest Fifth Suspect

Police have arrested a fifth person over the theft of data from TalkTalk.

The 18-year-old was detained on suspicion of blackmail after officers raided an address in Llanelli, south Wales.

Detectives say they are investigating a ransom demand sent to the phone and broadband provider by someone claiming to be responsible for the hack and seeking payment. The firm said it was not sure if the message was genuine.

TalkTalk shut down its website in October following what it described as a "significant and sustained" attack in which customer details may have been stolen.

TalkTalk said the data hacked was "significantly less than originally suspected" with fewer than 1.2 million customer email addresses, names and phone numbers accessed along with fewer than 21,000 unique bank account numbers and sort codes.

A 16-year-old boy from Norwich, another 16-year-old boy from London, a 15-year-old boy from County Antrim and a 20-year-old man from Staffordshire have been arrested and released on police bail in connection with the attack.

The breach in October was the third in a series of cyber attacks that have affected TalkTalk customers.

In August, the firm revealed its mobile sales site was hit by a "sophisticated and co-ordinated cyber attack" in which personal data was accessed.

In February, customers were warned about scammers who managed to steal thousands of account numbers and names from TalkTalk's computers.