Skewer Tea*
You may have heard the Talk Talk saga - how its website was hacked by some nasty person/group, how all the customer details have become available to said hacker(s) and how they are holding Talk Talk to ransom.
While we may not have started with an account with Talk Talk, with the way smaller service providers have gone bust or been taken over by larger service providers (w00t! for 'Competition'. Err, probably not) we are some of the thousands who have ended up with them. Oh Dear!
Last night we wanted to do the online grocery shop, only to find all we could log in to was a nasty message from some apparently mad pseudo-ultra-Islamic group. Fortunately we have plenty of food in the house, so I did the shop this morning when things were, apparently, more 'normal'.
Warnings have been sent from Talk Talk, emails, warnings are being broadcast on TV and radio News - Your names, addresses, phone and other contact details have been accessed. Change your password and await further instructions. Should you receive an email or phone call (particularly the phone call) purporting to be from Talk Talk and asking for your bank contact details (so that you can have money 'refunded') Put The Phone Down. Do Not Tell Them Your Bank Details.
As most major banks say, "We never ask for banking details - account numbers, security numbers, pin numbers" over the phone. Do Not Give Your Bank Details Over The Phone. Ever.
So there you are, Dear Reader (and fellow Talk Talk customer). It's time to change your Talk Talk password - if you can access the site! Time to change it for (another) alphanumeric 8-or-more character string which has no obvious meaning or sequence - ie: not a word/group of words/significant (to you) date or anything else which is easily guessable. Yes, you'll have to write it down somewhere but keep that securely too(not on the computer/in your phone's cover).
The annoying, and worrying, thing is that apparently this was the third such attack on Talk Talk this year. This time they got through. Hmmm, says a lot for Talk Talk's 'security', doesn't it? How they are 'constantly updating' it. How much, indeed, that they value their customers.
That's all part of the problem. When companies are small they are (generally) focussed on providing goods or services. As they grow or are taken over by larger companies they eventually get to a size where said bloated company is being run as a moneybox. Supply of goods or 'services' becomes second, often a very poor second, to making money. 'Customer Service' becomes a mere couple of words - as anyone who's had to try and get something repaired/replaced under guarantee or returned will tell you. For all said large company will spout about how 'Customer Service is core to its ethos' or some such rubbish when you get fed up and go to the local paper or Watchdog to try and get some satisfaction after the corporate runaround you've received up until the media Big Boys get involved.
Anyone know of a reliable, customer oriented (for real), service oriented (for real), secure (for real) internet service provider?
Y'all have a good, and secure, day now!
*How you say 'security' with a Bristol accent. Not to be confused with a brew-up of metal spikes for shish-kebabs!
While we may not have started with an account with Talk Talk, with the way smaller service providers have gone bust or been taken over by larger service providers (w00t! for 'Competition'. Err, probably not) we are some of the thousands who have ended up with them. Oh Dear!
Last night we wanted to do the online grocery shop, only to find all we could log in to was a nasty message from some apparently mad pseudo-ultra-Islamic group. Fortunately we have plenty of food in the house, so I did the shop this morning when things were, apparently, more 'normal'.
Warnings have been sent from Talk Talk, emails, warnings are being broadcast on TV and radio News - Your names, addresses, phone and other contact details have been accessed. Change your password and await further instructions. Should you receive an email or phone call (particularly the phone call) purporting to be from Talk Talk and asking for your bank contact details (so that you can have money 'refunded') Put The Phone Down. Do Not Tell Them Your Bank Details.
As most major banks say, "We never ask for banking details - account numbers, security numbers, pin numbers" over the phone. Do Not Give Your Bank Details Over The Phone. Ever.
So there you are, Dear Reader (and fellow Talk Talk customer). It's time to change your Talk Talk password - if you can access the site! Time to change it for (another) alphanumeric 8-or-more character string which has no obvious meaning or sequence - ie: not a word/group of words/significant (to you) date or anything else which is easily guessable. Yes, you'll have to write it down somewhere but keep that securely too(not on the computer/in your phone's cover).
The annoying, and worrying, thing is that apparently this was the third such attack on Talk Talk this year. This time they got through. Hmmm, says a lot for Talk Talk's 'security', doesn't it? How they are 'constantly updating' it. How much, indeed, that they value their customers.
That's all part of the problem. When companies are small they are (generally) focussed on providing goods or services. As they grow or are taken over by larger companies they eventually get to a size where said bloated company is being run as a moneybox. Supply of goods or 'services' becomes second, often a very poor second, to making money. 'Customer Service' becomes a mere couple of words - as anyone who's had to try and get something repaired/replaced under guarantee or returned will tell you. For all said large company will spout about how 'Customer Service is core to its ethos' or some such rubbish when you get fed up and go to the local paper or Watchdog to try and get some satisfaction after the corporate runaround you've received up until the media Big Boys get involved.
Anyone know of a reliable, customer oriented (for real), service oriented (for real), secure (for real) internet service provider?
Y'all have a good, and secure, day now!
*How you say 'security' with a Bristol accent. Not to be confused with a brew-up of metal spikes for shish-kebabs!