British provider is attacked and Data 4 million customers are stolen

Data can include details of credit cards and bank accounts.
Company TalkTalk claims to have received hacker payment requirement.

The British company TalkTalk broadband said on Friday (23) that it has received a demand for an agent not identified who claims to be responsible for an attack that may have led to the theft of personal data from more than 4 million of the company's customers.

The data can include credit and bank account card details and if the theft is confirmed by a police investigation will be one of the largest of its kind ever held in England.

"We have been contacted by someone claiming to be the hacker. I can not tell if it's an individual or group," said chief executive of TalkTalk, Dido Harding, the BBC.

She said the demand for payment came in an email sent to your corporate account. The executive gave no details, saying the case is being investigated by police.

Harding said that an amount "very significant" data was stolen, but could not confirm whether the customer information were encrypted.

The attack is the third suffered by TalkTalk this year and experts say who is going to undermine the reputation of the company, which competes with larger rivals such as BT, Virgin Media and Sky in the UK broadband market. TalkTalk's shares plunged more than 4%.