Syrian regime hacker sentenced to 42 months in US prison
Original title: Assad regime hacker who caused $136 billion market drop sentenced to 42 months
Ahmad Umar Agha, also known as Th3Pr0, was sentenced after a conspiracy that ran from August 2011 until January 2024.
The US Department of Justice said a federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Ahmad Umar Agha to 42 months for a hacking conspiracy tied to Bashar Al-Assad’s inner circle. Prosecutors say he compromised about 47 Western media outlets, businesses, NGOs, and government entities. On April 23, 2013, a fake tweet from a hijacked news agency account claimed explosions injured President Obama and briefly cut $136 billion from the Dow. Co-conspirator Firas Dardar remains a fugitive.
- About 3,500 visitors saw a defaced US Marine Corps recruitment page.
- He stole White House staff credentials and failed to seize social accounts.
- One publisher lost about $35,000 a day for around six months.
- A global NGO’s cleanup and security upgrades totaled $480,000.
- Agha was charged in June 2014 and indicted in May 2018.
Impact: Hijacked accounts, a fake market-moving tweet, and a defaced site
- Victims
- US Marine Corps
- Organizations
- US Department of Justice
- Countries
- SyriaUnited States
From the original article
2 min read at helpnetsecurity.com
A Syrian man who used a hijacked news agency Twitter account to post a fake report of explosions at the White House has been sentenced to 42 months in prison, the US Department of Justice has announced.
By Sinisa Markovic · helpnetsecurity.com
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