A Tower Hamlets teenager is among two charged after a major cyber attack investigation on Transport for London (TfL).
The government body responsible for transport was subject of a network intrusion on August 31 last year, which investigators believe was carried out by an online criminal group known as Scattered Spider.
Thalha Jubair, 19, of Tower Hamlets, was arrested at his home address on Tuesday (September 16) by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and City of London Police.
Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall in West Midlands, was also arrested.
Both will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today (September 18) after a charge being authorised with conspiring together to commit unauthorised acts against TfL.
Flowers was initially arrested on September 6 last year following the attack, at which point NCA officers identified further potential evidence of offences against US healthcare companies.
As a result, Flowers has also been charged with conspiring with others to infiltrate and damage the networks of SSM Health Care Corporation and attempting to do the same to Sutter Health’s networks, both based in the US.
Jubair has also been charged for failing to disclose the pin or passwords for devises seized from him.
Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “Today’s charges are a key step in what has been a lengthy and complex investigation.
“This attack caused significant disruption and millions in losses to TfL, part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure.
“Earlier this year, the NCA warned of an increase in the threat from cyber criminals based in the UK and other English-speaking countries, of which Scattered Spider is a clear example.
“The NCA, UK policing and our international partners, including the FBI, are collectively committed to identifying offenders within these networks and ensuring they face justice.”
Share