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Thu, 25 Jun 2026

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 Teens who hacked TfL were known to police years before cyber-attack

Owen Flowers and Thalha Jubair were convicted for their roles in the attack, which led to large costs for Transport for London.

* Flowers was 18 years old at the time of the attack and from Walsall.
* Jubair was 20 years old and from east London.
* The cyber-attack disrupted TfL services, affected the personal data of millions of people, and left all 28,000 TfL employees needing to reset their passwords in person.
* Authorities made frequent attempts to curb Flowers and Jubair's offending behavior, but it is unclear if these interventions were effective.
* Both young men have a history of cyber-offending and were known to law enforcement bodies.
* Flowers was caught carrying out low-level cyber-crime at 16 years old and given a cease and desist order, but he continued to offend.
* Jubair received a Youth Rehabilitation Order for cyber offenses linked to the Lapsus$ hacking group in 2023.
* The case highlights the challenges posed by highly capable young offenders who do not appear to understand the real-world consequences of their actions.