A British court sentences two young men to prison for targeting the London Transport Authority with a cyber attack

On Thursday, a British court sentenced two hackers to five and a half years in prison after convicting them of carrying out a cyber attack targeting the London Public Transport Authority in 2024, causing losses amounting to 29 million pounds sterling (about 39.16 million dollars).

Last month, Talha Jubeir (20 years old) and Owen Flowers (18 years old) admitted to hacking into the systems of the Transport for London Authority (TfL), in an attack that the authorities previously attributed to the hacking group known as Scattered Spider.

Jubair and Flowers carried out the attack between August 31 and September 3, 2024, working up to 16 hours a day; Jubeir carried out the operation from his parents’ apartment in east London, while Flowers was working from his grandmother’s house in central England, after they managed to penetrate the authority’s systems.

Prosecutor Mark Fenhals said that Jubeir broadcast the hacking operation live over the Internet, while Flowers was watching, noting that the recording found on Flowers’ laptop constituted pivotal evidence in the case.

Venhals added that the two defendants could have “completely paralyzed the Transport for London” authority, and that the attack did not stop until the authority proceeded to disconnect its computer systems, while the process of repairing the resulting damage took six months.

Flowers also pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to hack two non-profit health organizations in the United States, a few days after the London Transport Authority was targeted, explaining that these attacks only stopped because of his arrest and “caught red-handed.”

The Public Prosecutor indicated that Flowers continued to attempt to carry out hacking operations even after he was imprisoned, as the devices in his possession showed searches and attempts to access electronic domains linked to the British Crown Prosecution Service and the prison in which he was held.

Judge Mark Turner sentenced Jubeir and Flowers to five-and-a-half years each, saying he was satisfied their primary motive was “to show off vanity and selfishness.”