Teenager arrested over Transport for London cyber attack; ECB cuts interest rates – as it happened

The government has tried to strike a collaborative tone at a conference full of private equity and venture capital bosses this afternoon, despite tension over Labour’s plans to close a £500m tax loophole benefiting industry executives.

Speaking at the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) Summit on Thursday, City minister Tulip Siddiq, issued a call for “action and collaboration” between government and the sector, saying:

“I really believe that it’s only by working together that we will deliver greater returns for private capital investors, scale up high growth innovative UK firms, and we will be able to deliver the change and the growth that our country desperately needs.”

However, she made no mention of Labour’s proposals to hike taxes on carried interest – which is the share of profits that fund managers in private equity and make on successful deals – to 45%, from 28% currently.

The party has said carried interest should be treated as income, since it is effectively a bonus for general partners, and should be taxed as such. It has estimated that doing so would help raise another £500m for government coffers.

However, the industry argues that carried interest is a key incentive for staff to find lucrative investment opportunities, including promising companies that are key to UK growth.

The government closed a four week consultation on the matter at the end of August, and is expected to announce its final decision on tax levels at the 30 October budget.

Time for a recap…

A teenager has been arrested following a cyberattack on London’s public transport body last week in which some personal customer data was accessed.

The 17-year-old male from Walsall was detained last week, and has been released on bail.

TfL said it was contacting about 5,000 customers as a precaution to warn that their email and bank account details could have been accessed. It is understood to relate to those who had applied for refunds on journeys made using Oyster cards.

News of the arrest came as BT reveals it identifies 2,000 signals indicating a potential cyber-attack across its networks every second.

The UK telco says an “AI arms” race is developing between businesses bolstering their defences and increasingly sophisticated hackers.

The European Central Bank has cut interest rates in the eurozone again, but also trimmed its growth forecasts.

Britain’s fiscal watchdog has warned that the national debt could almost triple over the next 50 years, as the rising cost of an aging population and climate change push up borrowing.

John Lewis has declared it is on track for “significantly higher” full-year profits, after narrowing its losses in the first half of the financial year.

The owners of the Grangemouth oil refinery have confirmed it will shut by the end of June next year, in a blow to Scotland’s industrial base and the site’s 500 employees.

Transport for London is warning customers that some personal data has been accessed through the hack.

TfL have emailed customers today, saying that they are “currently dealing with an ongoing cyber security incident” which was first detected on 1 September.

TfL says that “the situation is evolving”, and that it has identified that certain customer data has been accessed.

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 around 5,000 customers, TfL warns.

TfL adds:

If you are affected, we will contact you directly as soon as possible as a precautionary measure, and will offer you support and guidance.

Newsflash: A teenager has been arrested in Walsall by the National Crime Agency, as part of the investigation into a cyber security incident affecting Transport for London (TfL).

The 17-year-old male was detained on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences in relation to the attack, which was launched on TfL on 1 September.

The teenager, who was arrested on 5 September, was questioned by NCA officers and has been bailed.

The NCA, which is leading the law enforcement response, says it is working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre and TfL to manage the incident and minimise any risks.

Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, says:

“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.

“Attacks on public infrastructure such as this can be hugely disruptive and lead to severe consequences for local communities and national systems.

“The swift response by 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.

“The NCA leads the UK’s response to cybercrime. We work closely with partners to protect the public by ensuring cyber criminals cannot act with impunity, whether that be by bringing them before the courts or through other disruptive and preventative action.”

Last week, TFL was forced to cut some live data feeds serving travel apps such as Citymapper and TfL Go, as it dealt with the cyber-attack.