A teenager has pleaded guilty to seven hacking offenses under the Computer Misuse Act in relation to the October 2015 TalkTalk security breach that resulted in over 160,000 individuals’ personal data being released publicly.

A recent survey suggests that 87% of small businesses have experienced a security breach within the same year, but the truth is that even large companies like TalkTalk are vulnerable to attack.

The 17-year-old was arrested on November 3, 2015 following the data breach.

His arrest was the result of a Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit investigation.

However, he isn’t the only one paying for the data breach.

TalkTalk, the company attacked, was fined a record of 400,000 euros for the hack. Personal data from some 157,000 customers was stolen, including bank account numbers, addresses, and other private information.

TalkTalk, after facing accusations of a cover-up, was finally forced to admit that they had neglected to encrypt some of their customers’ data.

The data breach was reported on October 21 2015, but some customers reported suffering attacks as early as a week before, leading investigators to believe that TalkTalk had neglected to adequately protect its customers.

The company originally released a statement claiming that accusations of a cover-up were “deeply unfair.”

However, the evidence was ultimately stacked against the company. TalkTalk has since been heavily criticized for its behavior in the situation.

The attack was the third to his the company during 2015.

The investigation opened states that TalkTalk’s “failure to implement the most basic cyber security measures allowed hackers to penetrate [the company’s] systems with ease.”

TalkTalk has, for the most part, paid their dues for the incident. Sentencing for the teenage hacker has been postponed until December.