On Tuesday, British police arrested two teenagers on suspicion of involvement in last year’s cyberattack on Transport for London (TfL).
The suspects, Thalha Jubair, 19, from East London, and Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall, West Midlands, were arrested at their homes by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and City of London police.
Both men are being charged with conspiring to commit unauthorized acts against the TfL, as dictated in the Computer Misuse Act.
Flowers, 18, has also been accused of conspiring to infiltrate and damage the IT networks of SSM Health Care Corporation and Sutter Health, two United States healthcare providers.
Additionally, Jubair has been charged with failing to disclose the passwords of the devices that were seized from him by law enforcement officers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, or RIPA Act, a law from the United Kingdom that regulates how public bodies conduct surveillance and access communication.
Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said that these charges are a “key step” in a “lengthy and complex investigation.”
“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings. We have worked closely with the National Crime Agency as they carried out their investigation,” Hannah Von Dadelszen, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, added.
In September 2024, TfL disclosed that it had been hit by a cyberattack. During the attack, customer data was stolen, including full names, contact information, and postal addresses. Information about Oyster card refunds for 5,000 people, including account information, was also obtained.
A criminal operation called Scattered Spider was held responsible for the cyberattack on TfL. Shortly after the attack, the then 17-year-old Flowers was arrested by British authorities.
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