A 15 year old boy is being held on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (unauthorised access to computer material, unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate a crime), following a major breach of the telecoms firm’s website last week.
Police are now searching his home in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
TalkTalk bosses said they shut down their site last week following the “significant and sustained” attack in which customer details may have been “compromised”.
They also stated that the hackers have made “ransom demands”.
TalkTalk sent the following message to it’s four million customers after the hacking:
The company’s customers are being asked to check their accounts for any suspicious activity “over the next few months” and recommended them to “change their passwords”.
Anyone who believes they have been directly affected by the alleged data theft should visit http://help2.talktalk.co.uk/oct22incident
Following the arrest, a spokesperson for 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.”
TalkTalk also suffered cyber attacks in February and August this year.