A 17-year-old male from Walsall has been arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in relation to a cyber security attack on Transport for London (TfL) that occurred on 1 September.

The teenager was detained on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act.

The NCA, which is leading the investigation, has been working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre and TfL to manage the incident and mitigate any potential risks. Following the arrest on 5 September, the teenager was questioned and later bailed as the investigation continues.

Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, highlighted the gravity of such attacks, stating: “Attacks on public infrastructure such as this can be hugely disruptive and lead to severe consequences for local communities and national systems.”

Foster also praised the swift response from TfL, which allowed the NCA to act quickly in their investigation. He added: “We are grateful for their continued co-operation with our investigation, which remains ongoing.”

The NCA has reiterated its commitment to tackling cybercrime, emphasising that those responsible for such attacks will be held accountable, either through court proceedings or other preventative actions.

The agency encourages individuals with cyber skills to make informed and legal choices through initiatives such as the Cyber Choices programme.

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George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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Nevis
Nevis (@guest_857626)
1 day ago

WiFi got hacked on network rail yesterday. Shows how vulnerable society is to this sort of thing. Seems to be a daily occurrence.

David Lloyd
David Lloyd (@guest_857643)
1 day ago
Reply to  Nevis

Bad actors do this to show up the incompetence of the National Cyber Force and it’s complete inability to defend us against the geeks who enjoy doing this sort of thing

Last year bank fraud – another cyber activity which seems to be completely out of control – cost the British public £1.4 billion. Why can’t our wonderful boys in blue stop online fraud? Prolly because they are too busy doing their paperwork while WFH – instead of out pounding their beats trying to nick burglars

DJ
DJ (@guest_857705)
1 day ago
Reply to  David Lloyd

Most of these attacks originate in countries safe from law enforcement. The answer is simple – disconnect all such countries from the internet. It’s not hard. Then you are down to kids like this. They are so much easier to handle if most of our experts are not instead trying to block state based (& general cyber criminals). Script kiddies are not a problem if you are paying attention & hit hard (no suspended sentences).

Rob N
Rob N (@guest_857997)
4 hours ago
Reply to  David Lloyd

It is up to all those who operate networks to secure them against attack. You cannot blame national organs for not stopping attacks if your system is vulnerable and an easy target. TFL should have put in place better security to stop a teen hacker let alone a State actor. It si about time we took Cyber seriously and consider it in terms of being attacked.

JohnG
JohnG (@guest_857686)
1 day ago

I’ve noticed a step up in the tone and rhetoric over this instance. From this I imagine they are going to throw the book at this person to “set an example to others” Its been quite interesting to look at the change in tone from he msm during this event. At the start it was almost quite light hearted and they were showing large parts of the message, this evolved into speak around “islamiphobia and racism” which has now progressed onto a “cyber attack on transport for london” You can almost see the people behind the scenes trying to figure… Read more »

Lonpfrb
Lonpfrb (@guest_857875)
18 hours ago
Reply to  JohnG

Very true but does confirm that OOTB oem passwords are something that must always be changed so that random people with minimal information cannot subvert infrastructure. The provisioning and deployment process should make this impossible.