Hacker Behind Fake White House Tweet That Wiped $136 Billion off the Dow Jailed for 42 Months

Ahmad Umar Agha, known online as "Th3Pr0", has been sentenced by a U.S. federal court to 42 months in prison for his part in a conspiracy that targeted Western news outlets. The U.S. Justice Department said on October 29 that the conspiracy was organised and led by members of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle. Earlier public documents in the case, including the 2014 FBI affidavit and the 2016 and 2018 Justice Department announcements, do not describe Syrian officials organising or leading the group. An early study by the OpenNet Initiative also found no credible evidence directly linking the attackers to the Syrian government.

According to a 2014 FBI affidavit, the Syrian Electronic Army began its attacks in 2011. Members sent phishing emails to steal employees' passwords, then used those passwords to deface websites, redirect web traffic and hijack social media accounts. On April 23, 2013, the group took over the Associated Press's Twitter account and posted a false report that President Barack Obama had been injured in two explosions at the White House. The Justice Department said Agha carried out that hack, which caused a temporary $136 billion drop in the value of stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Agha was first charged in June 2014 in a complaint that stayed secret until March 2016, when the FBI added him to its Cyber's Most Wanted list. A grand jury indicted him in May 2018, and Court Watch reported in December 2025 that he was in U.S. custody.