Syrian hacker sentenced to 42 months in US prison for attacks

Ahmad Umar Agha was sentenced to 42 months in US prison for his role in a hacking operation linked to Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria.

Prosecutors said the operation was organized by members of Assad’s circle and ran from 2011 to 2024.

Agha hacked about 47 media, business, nonprofit and government targets, aiming to gather intelligence, intimidate opponents and discourage US service members from following orders.

In 2013, he accessed the Associated Press’s Twitter account and posted a false claim that President Barack Obama had been injured in explosions at the White House.

The false post briefly erased $136 billion in stock-market value before the market recovered.

He also redirected visitors to a Marine Corps recruitment website to a message urging them to disobey orders and join the Syrian Army.

His alleged accomplice Firas Dardar remains a fugitive, while Assad’s government collapsed in December 2024.