Teenagers plead not guilty in connection with a cyber attack on London Transport

Two teenagers accused of involvement in the hacking of Transport for London computers have pleaded not guilty to computer hacking charges during a hearing at Southwark Crown Court.

Thala Jubeir, 19, from east London, and Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall in the West Midlands, spoke only to confirm their names and make pleas at the short hearing.

They are both charged with conspiracy to commit unauthorized acts against Transport for London (TfL) under the Computer Misuse Act.

In addition, Flowers is accused of trying to hack into the computer systems of California-based Sutter Health and another American company, SSM Healthcare Corporation.

Mr. Al-Jubeir was also accused of failing to provide passwords to his devices.

TfL said the hack caused £39m worth of damage and disrupted TfL services for three months in autumn 2024.

While transport itself was not affected, several TfL online services and dashboards were taken offline as part of the attack.

TfL had to write to thousands of customers to tell them there may have been unauthorized access to their personal information such as bank account numbers and sorting codes.

Data including names, email addresses and home addresses were accessed.

Judge Christopher Hehir set a trial date for June 8 next year, with the hearing expected to last between four and six weeks.

Both men remain in custody pending investigation.