LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Britain's data protectionregulator said on Wednesday it fined British broadband providerTalkTalk 400,000 pounds ($509,000) for securityfailings that allowed hackers to launch a cyber-attack lastyear.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said TalkTalkcould have prevented the attack last October if it had takenbasic steps to protect customers' information, and described howthe hackers accessed data "with ease".
Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said TalkTalkshould have done more to safeguard its customers.
"Today's record fine acts as a warning to others that cybersecurity is not an IT issue, it is a boardroom issue," Denhamsaid in a statement.
The attack affected around four percent of the company's 4million customers and cost it around 60 million pounds.
Shares in TalkTalk, which competes with BT, Sky and Virgin Media, traded up 0.7 percent at211 pence at 1255 GMT. (Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Stephen Addison)