Syrian Sentenced to 42 Months in US Prison for Pro-Assad Hacking

Reports indicated the images came from hacking attacks targeting social media accounts, as well as cases of online enticement (Reuters).

A Syrian man was sentenced to 42 months in prison on Thursday for his role in computer hacking on behalf of the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, the US Justice Department said.

Ahmad Umar Agha, 32, and co-conspirators hacked Western media outlets, businesses, non-governmental organizations and US and allied government entities "to spread the former Syrian government's propaganda," the department said in a statement.

The hacking group known as the Syrian Electronic Army was led by members of Assad's inner circle, it said.

"Agha deployed his hacking skills in the service of Assad's regime to silence reporting on the regime's atrocities, intimidate its opponents, and incite US servicemembers to refuse their orders," Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg said.

The group's most notorious hack was of a US new agency's Twitter account, resulting in a false 2013 tweet saying then-president Barack Obama had been injured after two blasts at the White House, said AFP.

"Agha's actions caused a flash crash in the US stock market, resulting in a temporary $136 billion loss in the value of stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average," the Justice Department said.

Agha, also known as Th3Pro, was indicted along with an alleged co-conspirator, Firas Dardar, who remains a fugitive.

A third Syrian charged in the case, Peter Romar, was extradited to the United States and pleaded guilty in September 2016 to hacking charges.