17 Year Old Arrested Over London Cyber Attack

17-year-old boy has been arrested in connecting with a cyber attack affecting Transport for London.

TfL (Transport For London) states that around 5,000 customers sort codes and bank account details may have been accessed by hackers because of the ongoing cyber security incident.

The NCA (National Crime Agency) has stated the teenager has been arrested on the 5th September after four days in Walsall, West Midlands.

TfL has said the data included names, home addresses and emails had been accessed.

'Disruptive'

The National Crime Agency has said the teenager has been arrested on suspicion of Computer Misuse offences.

The teenager was questioned by NCA officers and was later bailed.

The NCA is working with TfL and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to help mitigate the risk to customers.

Paul Foster, the head of the NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit has said "Attacks on public infrastructure such as this can be hugely disruptive and lead to severe consequences for local communities and national systems."

   Transport for London, based at Palestra House in Southwark was one of the first to report the Cyber Attack on the 2nd of September

He also added "We have been working at pace to support transport for London following a cyber attack on their network, and to identify the criminal actors responsible."

"The swift response by the TfL following the incident has enabled us to act quickly, and we are grateful for their continued co-operation with our investigation, which remains ongoing."

Shashi Verma Transport for London's chief technology officer has said the customer who had been affected would be contacted directly. He added that an investigation into the cyber attack will be taking place with help of the NCA and the NCSC.

'Refunds'

"Although there has been very little impact on our customers so far, the situation continues to evolve and our investigations have identified that certain customer data has been accessed," Shashi Verma said.

"This includes some customer names and contact details, including email addresses and home addresses where provided. Some oyster card refund data may have also been accessed. This could include bank account numbers and sort codes for a limited number of customers. As a precautionary measure, we will be contacting these customers directly as soon as possible to advice them of the support we can provide and the steps they can take."

Mr Verma the chief technology officer for Transport for London added that the "Security" of it's systems and customer data where "very important" to TfL and that they will "Continually monitor who is accessing our systems to ensure only those authorised can gain access,"

The NCSC Is asking anyone who thinks they may have been affected by the data breach to be aware about suspicious emails, phone calls or text messages.