- Two youngsters charged after TfL cyber assault linked to Scattered Spider prison collective
- NCA says hack brought about hundreds of thousands in losses as TfL operations disrupted for months
- CPS confirms prosecution as each males remanded forward of October crown courtroom look
Two teenage males have been charged over a current cyberattack which left Transport for London (TfL) battling months of disruption and tens of hundreds of thousands in losses.
The Nationwide Crime Company (NCA) stated the intrusion, which started on August 31 2024, was linked to Scattered Spider, a cyber-criminal group it describes as an growing risk.
Nineteen-year-old Thalha Jubair from east London and eighteen-year-old Owen Flowers from Walsall had been arrested at their residence addresses by NCA and Metropolis of London Cops.
Important disruption and hundreds of thousands in losses
Each subsequently appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court docket, charged with conspiring to commit unauthorized acts in opposition to TfL underneath the Laptop Misuse Act.
Flowers was already on bail when the TfL hack happened. After his arrest, officers recognized proof that he had additionally focused US healthcare corporations for which he now faces further costs.
Jubair has been charged underneath the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act for refusing to supply the passwords for units seized from him.
Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s Nationwide Cyber Crime Unit, stated: “As we speak’s costs are a key step in what has been a prolonged and complicated investigation. This assault brought about vital disruption and hundreds of thousands in losses to TfL, a part of the UK’s vital nationwide infrastructure.”
Foster went on so as to add, “Earlier this yr, the NCA warned of a rise within the risk from cyber criminals primarily based within the UK and different English-speaking international locations, of which Scattered Spider is a transparent instance. The NCA, UK policing and our worldwide companions, together with the FBI, are collectively dedicated to figuring out offenders inside these networks and making certain they face justice.”
Each males have been remanded in custody and are on account of seem in courtroom in October.
Hannah Von Dadelszen, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS, stated, “The Crown Prosecution Service has determined to prosecute Thalha Jubair and Owen Flowers with pc misuse and fraud associated costs… Our prosecutors have labored to determine that there’s adequate proof to deliver the case to trial and that it’s within the public curiosity to pursue prison proceedings.”
TfL stated in an announcement, “We welcome this announcement by the Nationwide Crime Company that two folks have now been charged in relation to the cyber incident which impacted our operations final yr.”
The hack compelled TfL to jot down to five,000 clients warning their financial institution particulars and private info might have been uncovered.
Whereas transport companies continued, on-line platforms and digital info programs had been shut down for months.
Youngsters are more and more behind main cyber assaults, together with incidents concentrating on M&S, Co-op and Harrods, whereas others, some even youthful, have been caught hacking their very own colleges.
By way of BBC
