Market Report: Experian slumps after T-Mobile hack

Cyber-security companies were rubbing their hands in glee after yet another big hack — this time at credit-checker Experian.

The huge breach exposed the details of 15 million US customers who applied for the service through T-Mobile.

Connecticut’s attorney general said he would probe the hack, while T-Mobile’s chief executive, John Legere, said he would be reviewing the US mobile firm’s relationship with Experian.

Shares in the Footsie member slumped 49p to 1026p, a fall of 4.6%, which was the worst on the top flight index.

Cyber security is big business and a hot topic given the increasingly frequent hacks.

Recent victims include JPMorgan, Dixons Carphone and infidelity site Ashley Madison.

In July, cyber-security firm Sophos floated at 225p, joining the FTSE 250 in what was London’s biggest-ever tech IPO.

In three months, its share price has risen to 239.48p, 4.18p higher today, compared with a 5% fall from the FTSE 250.

Even smaller companies are profiting as large multinationals rush to shore up their defences.

AIM-listed Corero Network Security jumped 1.12p or 8.5% to 14.25p after it signed a deal worth £700,000 with an unnamed Footsie firm to use its SmartWall security system.

London-based investors shrugged off a bad start to the final quarter for stocks on Wall Street to continue on the front foot, up 66.75 points at 6139.22.

The gains came ahead of the latest monthly US jobs data, keenly watched by investors for clues about when the Federal Reserve’s policymakers might raise interest rates.

Legal & General was the biggest blue-chip winner, 8.3p better off at 244.9p, after revealing its first bulk annuity contract in the US with a subsidiary of Dutch tech firm Philips.

Pension liabilities of 14,000 retirees worth $900 million (£593.7 million) will pass to L&G.