U.S. prosecutors last week levied criminal hacking charges against 19-year-old U.K. national
Thalha Jubair
for allegedly being a core member of
Scattered Spider
, a prolific cybercrime group blamed for extorting at least $115 million in ransom payments from victims. The charges came as Jubair and an alleged co-conspirator appeared in a London court to face accusations of hacking into and extorting several large U.K. retailers, the London transit system, and healthcare providers in the United States.
At a court hearing last week, U.K. prosecutors laid out a litany of charges against Jubair and 18-year-old
Owen Flowers
, accusing the teens of involvement in an August 2024 cyberattack that crippled
Transport for London
, the entity responsible for the public transport network