The Justice Department indicted two suspected members of the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), a pro-Assad hacking group accused of breaching U.S. targets including the Obama administration and multiple national news outlets.
Syrian nationals Ahmad ‘Umar Agha and Firas Dardar have been charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with SEA’s cybercrime spree, according to an 11-count indictment filed against them Thursday in Eastern District of Virginia federal court in Alexandria.
The group’s operations ranged from altering websites to render messages in support of Syrian leader Bashar Assad to stealing user data and disrupting operations, according to prosecutors.
Operating out of Damascus and Homs, respectively, Mr. Agha and Mr. Dardar participated in the hacking group’s series of headline-grabbing stunts in order to spread propaganda supportive of the Syrian government, “and to retaliate against people and institutions who had been critical of the Assad regime,” prosecutors alleged in the indictment.
Both men were charged by criminal complaint in 2014, but prosecutors filed the indictment this week in lieu of letting a five-year statute of limitations for some of the crimes expire.
Mr. Agha and Mr. Dardar are both at large. A third Syrian national, Peter Romar, pleaded guilty to related crimes in 2016.
Between 2011 and 2014, the hacking group successfully targeted victims including the White House, The Associated Press, The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, CNN, Human Rights Watch and The Onion satirical news site, among others, federal prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
In April 2013, for example, Syrian Electronic Army allegedly breached the AP’s official Twitter account and falsely claimed that an explosion had occurred at the White House. The stock market plummeted directly after the tweet before recovering moments later when it was revealed to be a hoax.
Three months later, a SEA member was able to gain access to the personal email account of an employee of the Executive Office of the President as the result of a “ruse” that targeted several Obama administration EOP staffers, according to the indictment.
Romar was arrested in Germany and extradited to the U.S. in 2016 to face charges related to the hacking group. He pleaded guilty that September to to felony charges of conspiring to receive extortion proceeds and conspiring to unlawfully access computers, and he was subsequently sentenced to time served awaiting judgment, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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