Two teenagers have been charged with carrying out a sophisticated cyber attack on Transport for London that cost the organisation £39 million. Thalha Jubair, 19, from Tower Hamlets, east London, and Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall, West Midlands, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
Both defendants are charged with conspiring together to commit unauthorised acts against TfL under the Computer Misuse Act. Prosecutors described the alleged attack as "serious, extensive, sustained and highly sophisticated" that posed "significant risk" to the UK economy and London residents.
Court proceedings and charges
The court heard that the cyber attack resulted in a "loss of livelihood" for people dependent on TfL licences. Flowers faces additional charges relating to attacks on US healthcare firms, accused of conspiring to infiltrate and damage the networks of SSM Health Care Corporation and attempting to do the same to Sutter Health.
Jubair faces an additional charge under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of failing to disclose the PIN or passwords of his devices. Both defendants were remanded into custody and will next appear at Southwark Crown Court on 16th October.
Attack details and impact
The TfL cyber attack occurred on 1st September last year, with customer details including names, contact information and Oyster card refund data accessed. Bank details were among the compromised information, affecting millions of London transport users.
According to the National Crime Agency, investigators believe the attack was carried out by the criminal hacking collective Scattered Spider. This group has been linked to other cyber attacks on Jaguar Land Rover and retailers including Marks and Spencer.
Official response
Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit, said: "This attack caused significant disruption and millions in losses to TfL, part of the UK's critical national infrastructure." He described the charges as "a key step in what has been a lengthy and complex investigation."
Hannah Von Dadelszen, chief crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, confirmed that prosecutors had established "sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial" and that pursuing criminal proceedings was "in the public interest." The investigation involved close collaboration between the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Crime Agency.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
