Syrian Hacker Who Targeted Media and Governments for Assad Regime Jailed for 42 Months

A Syrian man described by prosecutors as a central figure in a hacking operation run from former President Bashar Assad's inner circle has been sentenced to 42 months in US federal prison. Ahmad Umar Agha, 42, carried out the conspiracy from as early as 24 August 2011 until 31 January 2024, according to the Justice Department. The operation was organised and led by members of Assad's circle, including the commander of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate.

Prosecutors said Agha hacked about 47 media entities, businesses, nongovernmental organisations and US and allied government bodies. The motives included punishing news outlets for reporting on atrocities, spreading fear among the regime's opponents, collecting intelligence and urging US military members to refuse orders. The most damaging intrusion came on 23 April 2013, when he accessed the Associated Press Twitter account and posted a false claim that President Obama had been injured in explosions at the White House. The post triggered a flash crash that briefly erased $136 billion in stock market value. In another case, he compromised the company hosting the US Marine Corps recruitment website and redirected about 3,500 visitors to an image urging Marines to refuse orders. He also stole usernames and passwords for White House staff email accounts, and in one instance succeeded in taking control of a social media account, prosecutors said.

The costs to victims were significant. One company that works with online publishers lost about $35,000 a day for roughly six months. A global nongovernmental organisation spent about $250,000 on new network monitoring products, retrained more than 800 staff and suffered $480,000 in total losses.