‘Keys to the kingdom’: hackers who gained access to heart of London transport network jailed

As a result of the attack, TfL was unable to process any payments on the Oyster and contactless apps or to register Oyster cards to customer accounts. Photograph: William Barton/Alamy

The data of millions of commuters was stolen, Londoners were left out of pocket and 27,000 Transport for London staff were forced to reset their passwords.

Over four days in 2024 a pair of teenage hackers had London’s transport network at their mercy. Thalha Jubair and Owen Flowers had burrowed into the heart of Transport for London’s IT systems and held the “keys to the kingdom”.