Two 'experienced and talented hackers' forced Transport for London (TfL) to 'pull the plug' on its systems at a cost of £29 million, a court has heard. Thalha Jubair, 20, and Owen Flowers, 18, conducted an 'extremely serious hack' on TfL's online network between August 31 and September 4, 2024, which could have caused 'catastrophic damage,' Woolwich Crown Court was told on Wednesday.
Hack Details and Impact
The multi-day intrusion forced all of TfL's more than 27,000 employees to attend an office to reset their passwords. Data from the Oyster refund system was accessed, contactless payment systems were delayed, and applications for Oyster photocards for children and young people were closed down. Along with the £29 million in damages from disruption to services and operational work, TfL claims the incident cost £10 million in lost income.
Mark Fenhalls KC, prosecuting, said: 'These two young men are highly skilled with computers and capable of wreaking havoc and you may think wholly indifferent to the consequences for the public and the potential suffering and costs to others.'
How the Hack Was Executed
The hackers worked through the night for 16 hours to access TfL systems after tricking the helpdesk into resetting a password for them. They then logged on to Microsoft Azure and began 'using TfL's own systems to hack itself' as they moved up through the system. The prosecution added that the hackers 'could have shut out and shut down TfL completely' as they eventually had the 'highest privileged access' in the system, known as 'the keys to the kingdom.'
They used remote servers to conceal the origin of the attack, created virtual machines within the TfL system to destroy evidence, downloaded millions of lines of data, and created multiple back doors. Flowers also livestreamed Jubair as he conducted the hack, and some of the videos were recovered when he was arrested three days later on September 6.
Potential for Catastrophic Damage
A TfL victim impact statement read out in court said: 'It is possible that access could have been sufficient to enable the actor to cause catastrophic damage to many technology systems, which would have led to significant and extended transport service degradation and disruption. Such widespread disruption would have had a serious impact on the travelling public, including for those accessing education, healthcare and other essential services, and London's economy.'
The prosecution underlined a potential loss of billions to the UK if the hackers had locked or destroyed the central TfL system. Mr Fenhalls said: 'This is hacking of the most serious sort with the ability to do remarkable levels of damage.'
Defense Arguments and Background
Defending Jubair, Paul Keleher KC compared his client to a 'modern day Oliver Twist' who had been groomed from a young age to use his skills for hacking. He said: 'They recruited young children to use their nimble fingers and nimble feet to steal from people.' However, Mr Justice Turner said: 'There's no Fagan in this case, it's a Faganless crime. He has an audience but he doesn't have a puppet master, he's promoted himself to an instigator and perpetrator.' Jubair was sentenced last year for 22 offences including hacks on individuals, telecoms businesses, and the City of London Police system.
On behalf of Flowers, who was 17 when he conducted the hack, Adam Davis KC described his client as an 'immature child trying to show off online.' When Flowers was arrested in September 2024, his laptop was found in the process of hacking two US healthcare systems. Those hacks were only stopped because of the 'fortuitous timing' of his arrest, the court heard.
Charges and Sentencing
Both young men admitted conspiracy to commit unauthorised acts in relation to a computer causing or creating risk of serious damage. Flowers also admitted two counts of conspiracy to commit unauthorised acts in relation to a computer with intent to impair, in relation to the healthcare systems. The defendants were tied to a group known as Scattered Spider. Mr Justice Turner will pass sentence on the hackers at 11.30am on Thursday.
