Syrian Man Sentenced to 42 Months for Hacking Conspiracy Tied to Assad Government

A federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Syrian national Ahmad Umar Agha to 42 months in prison for his role in a hacking conspiracy carried out on behalf of the former government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Justice Department said on Oct. 29, 2026.

According to the department, members of Assad's inner circle organized and led the conspiracy. They included the commander of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate. The conspiracy ran from as early as August 2011 to January 2024. The department said Agha, also known as Th3Pr0, hacked about 47 Western media organizations, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and U.S. and allied government entities to spread the former government's propaganda. He had spent more than a decade as a fugitive, the department said.

The department cited an April 23, 2013, post from a news agency's compromised Twitter account. The post falsely claimed President Obama had been injured in explosions at the White House. The department said it caused a flash crash that temporarily erased $136 billion in the value of stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The department also said Agha redirected visitors to a U.S. Marine Corps recruitment website to an image urging Marines to refuse orders.

The department said Agha's alleged co-conspirator, Firas Dardar, was indicted in 2018 and remains a fugitive. Dardar is presumed innocent.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/599