Two men have pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court for hacking into the computer systems of Transport for London and disrupting services that cost the transporter £29 million to fix.
The two individuals, 20-year-old Thalha Jubair from London and 18-year-old Owen Flowers from Wiltshire, pleaded guilty just before a six-week trial into their cyber attack on the Transport for London’s systems commenced on Monday.
The transportation agency suffered a major cyber attack in September 2024 that impacted several services, including the Dial-a-Ride service for disabled and elderly people and other TfL fare services that forced it to temporarily suspend online services such as Live Tube arrival information and Oyster photocard applications.
TfL said the hackers had accessed some customers’ names, home addresses, contact information and email addresses, and it had to stop concession services to prevent the hackers from causing further damage. By December 2024, the transporter had reopened systems for Zip photocards, 60+ London Oyster photocards, 18+ Student Oyster photocards and other concessions.
On 16 September, 2025, the National Crime Agency arrested two individuals in the UK, 20-year-old Thalha Jubair from London and 18-year-old Owen Flowers from Wiltshire, and charged them with carrying out the cyber attack using the name of the Scattered Spider hacker group.
The two individuals denied the charges at a hearing held in Southwark Crown Court in November 2025, after which Judge Christopher Hehir scheduled the trial for 8 June, 2026, with proceedings expected to run for four to six weeks.
The NCA believed it had foolproof evidence against the two accused individuals after finding evidence of the cyber attack on TfL systems at their homes, including screenshots of connectivity to TfL infrastructure, as well as laptops, tower computers, hard drives and USB sticks used to mount the attacks.
The NCA also found videos of Jubair accessing TfL systems during the attack, their personal messages on Telegram and an online communication tool which they used to work together.
The two individuals pleaded guilty on multiple charges of cyber crimes just before their six-week trial was about to commence. They are due to be sentenced at the Woolwich Crown Court on 16 July.
“This has been a lengthy, highly complex and painstaking investigation,” said Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit. “The perseverance and meticulousness of our officers, and the work of our partner organisations, meant that Jubair and Flowers had no option other than to plead guilty and take responsibility for their offending.
“The attack caused millions of pounds in losses to a key part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure, and was a significant inconvenience for customers. Today’s result would not have been possible if TfL had not engaged with law enforcement early, so I would urge any other organisation to please do the same in such circumstances,” he added.
City of London Police Deputy Commissioner Nik Adams said his force will work around the clock with its partners and stakeholders to ensure the UK remains a hostile environment for cyber criminals.
“The cyber attack on Transport for London had a significant and far-reaching impact, causing major disruption and affecting the day-to-day operations of essential public services. Those who target critical organisations, cause substantial financial harm, and disrupt the daily lives of the public will not do so without consequence,” he said.
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