Two young men aged 19 and 18 have been charged in connection with the cyber attack on Transport for London systems just over a year ago, which TfL said had caused damage and disruption over three months costing £39 million.

The National Cyber Security Centre and the National Crime Agency were called in at the start of September last year, and data concerning some 5,000 passengers was feared to have been compromised, including details of their addresses and bank accounts, while plans to extend pay-as-you-go contactless ticketing to another 47 stations in south east England on 22 September were delayed. TfL’s 25,000 staff also had to take part in an IT identity check.

The two facing charges are Thalha Jubair, 19, from the east London borough of Tower Hamlets, and Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall in the West Midlands. They were arrested on Tuesday and appeared before Westminster Magistrates yesterday afternoon on charges under the Computer Misuse Act.

The court ruled that both of the accused had cases to answer, and they were remanded in custody until they can be tried by Southwark Crown Court on a date yet to be fixed.

The magistrates’ court heard that Flowers was alleged to have taken part in the TfL attack while he was already on bail in connection with similar hacks on healthcare companies in the USA.

Deputy director Paul Foster, who is head of the NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit, said the charges were ‘a key step in what has been a lengthy and complex investigation.’

He continued: ‘This attack caused significant disruption and millions in losses to TfL, part of the UK's critical national infrastructure.’

TfL added: ‘We welcome this announcement by the National Crime Agency that two people have now been charged in relation to the cyber incident which impacted our operations last year.’

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