Syrian hacker Ahmad Umar Agha sentenced to 42 months in US
Original title: Syrian hacker who served Assad regime gets 42 months in US prison
Prosecutors say he hit about 47 targets from 2011 to 2024, including a 2013 fake AP tweet that briefly erased $136 billion.
Ahmad Umar Agha, 42, was sentenced Thursday to 42 months in federal prison for a hacking conspiracy prosecutors say was organized by members of former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s circle, including the commander of Syria’s General Intelligence Directorate. From as early as August 24, 2011, until January 31, 2024, he targeted about 47 media outlets, businesses, NGOs and U.S. and allied government bodies. Co-defendant Firas Dardar remains a fugitive. Assad’s regime collapsed in December 2024.
Unconfirmed: The account of the intrusions and motives comes from prosecutors and the Justice Department.
- On April 23, 2013, he posted a fake AP tweet claiming Obama was injured in White House explosions.
- He redirected about 3,500 Marine Corps recruitment-site visitors to propaganda urging them to refuse orders.
- He stole White House staff email credentials and, prosecutors said, once took a White House social account.
- One publisher-related company lost about $35,000 a day for roughly six months.
- An NGO reported $480,000 in losses and retrained more than 800 staff.
- Victims
- Associated Press
- Organizations
- Justice DepartmentU.S. Marine Corps
- Countries
- SyriaUnited States
From the original article
3 min read at cyberscoop.com
Ahmad Umar Agha is best known for posting a fake Associated Press tweet claiming President Obama was injured in a White House bombing. The post Syrian hacker who served Assad regime gets 42 months in US prison appeared first on CyberScoop.
By Greg Otto · cyberscoop.com
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