# Teenage hackers sentenced to 5.5 years for Transport for London cyber-attack costing £39m

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/teenage-hackers-sentenced-to-5-5-years-for-transport-for-london-cyber-attack-costing-39m/
- Published: 2026-07-16T11:13:57+00:00
- Topics: Art, Business, Culture, Cybersecurity, Technology

## Key points

- Two teenagers sentenced to 5.5 years for a 2024 cyber-attack on Transport for London's systems
- The breach provided extensive access to critical infrastructure and caused approximately £39m in damages
- The pair livestreamed their 16-hour attack and were both described as socially isolated individuals with autism

## Summary

Two teenagers, Thalha Jubair (20) and Owen Flowers (19), have been jailed for five and a half years following a 2024 cyber-attack on Transport for London that compromised critical IT systems. The breach, which granted the pair extensive unauthorized access to TfL's digital infrastructure, resulted in an estimated £39m in damages and was described in court as providing the attackers with "the keys to the kingdom" to the transport authority's network.

The duo conducted their 16-hour breach while livestreaming their activities online, exploiting vulnerabilities in TfL's domain systems. Both were characterised during sentencing as computer-focused teenagers with autism who had limited social connections outside their technical interests, highlighting how skilled threat actors operating independently of organised crime networks can inflict substantial damage on critical infrastructure.

## Coverage

- [The Guardian: ‘Keys to the kingdom’: hackers who gained access to heart of London transport network jailed](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/16/hackers-2024-cyber-attack-transport-for-london-tfl-jailed)
- [BBC Technology: Teenage hackers jailed over TfL cyber-attack livestream](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gyg0y6yg2o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.