Prison for hacker in Assad's service: The organization he operated in spread a false warning about a nuclear leak in Dimona
A US federal court sentenced Syrian hacker Ahmad Omar Agha to three and a half years in prison for operating on behalf of the Assad regime. His group, the Syrian Electronic Army, took over the IDF spokesperson's English Twitter account in 2014 and spread a false warning about a nuclear leak in Dimona.
A federal court in Virginia sentenced Ahmad Omar Agha, a Syrian hacker who operated on behalf of Bashar Assad's regime, to three and a half years in prison. The sentence brings back to the headlines a 2014 cyberattack in which the Syrian Electronic Army group took over the IDF spokesperson's English Twitter account and spread a false warning about a nuclear leak in Dimona. The attack occurred on the night of July 3-4, 2014, days before Operation Protective Edge, against the backdrop of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. The IDF spokesperson removed the post and confirmed the account was hacked. According to the US Department of Justice, Agha hacked into about 47 media outlets, companies, and government agencies. One of his notable actions was hacking a news agency's account in 2013 and publishing a false message about explosions at the White House, which caused a temporary drop of $136 billion in the Dow Jones index. His alleged accomplice, Firas Dardar, is still wanted.