Two UK teens charged in connection to Scattered Spider ransomware attacks

According to Ars Technica, two UK teens have been charged in connection with the Scattered Spider ransomware attacks: Thalha Jubair, 19, of London, and Owen Flowers, 18, from Walsall in the West Midlands. The US and UK authorities say Jubair was part of Scattered Spider, which allegedly conducted 120 cyberattacks on 47 US companies and generated more than $115 million in ransomware payments, with five victims reportedly paying $89.5 million in bitcoin.

Flowers was previously arrested in connection with the Transport for London attack in September 2024, and both men were remanded after appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court. The US complaint notes Jubair’s involvement in data access and other offences, including his refusal to turn over PIN codes and passwords for seized devices, while prosecutors outline the group’s broader activities against US targets.

In the UK case, prosecutors say Jubair and Flowers were charged in connection with last year’s TfL cyberattack, which caused outages to internal and online services but not to transport operations.