3 Wipro staff arrested for breaching UK company TalkTalk's security

BENGALURU: Three Wipro employees in Kolkata have been arrested in connection with a security breach in the customer records of a UKbased telecom client TalkTalk, a development that could have major implications for the IT company .

A TalkTalk spokesperson said it is reviewing its relationship with Wipro. The British media carried the news on Wednesday , given that TalkTalk is a major fixed line broadband and voice telephony services company , with revenue of 1.7 billion pounds.

TalkTalk had suffered a major cyberattack in October that had compromised the personal and financial details, including bank account information, of some 157,000 customers. For Abidali Neemuchwa la, who takes over as Wipro CEO on February 1, this would perhaps not be the kind of beginning he had looked forward to. Industry analysts said he would have to tighten internal controls in the BPO operations and may take disciplinary action against senior executives to assuage client concerns. And this at a time when the company needs to focus on improving its growth rate, which has been significantly lagging those of peers.

The criminal acts by the Wipro employees were discovered when TalkTalk conducted a forensic review of all its operations following the October cyberattack. The forensic review was to ensure that all aspects of TalkTalk's security ­ including that of its suppliers -were as robust as possible. It had hired defence company BAE Systems to investigate the cyberattack.