Syrian hacker jailed for 42 months over AP Twitter hack

Ahmad Umar Agha, a Syrian Electronic Army hacker known online as Th3Pr0, has been sentenced by a U.S. federal court to 42 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy linked to support for the Bashar al-Assad regime. The U.S. Justice Department said the pro‑Assad group began operating in 2011, using phishing to steal passwords and then defacing sites, redirecting traffic and hijacking social media accounts.

In April 2013, the group hijacked the Associated Press’s Twitter account and posted a false report alleging injuries to President Obama after explosions at the White House. Agha is alleged to have carried out that hack, with official court filings noting a password reset message for the AP account was sent to a Gmail address used by Agha.

The Justice Department claims Agha and co‑conspirators hacked about 47 Western media outlets, businesses, non‑profits and government bodies, sometimes deploying compromised credentials to disrupt operations or influence markets.

Notably, the group’s actions caused a temporary drop of about $136 billion in Dow Jones Industrial Average values, and later, Agha stated to Business Insider that such a drop was “our goal.” The investigation also details attempts to seize White House staff email accounts and breaches affecting a Marine Corps recruiting site, which redirected visitors to a pro‑Assad message; around 3,500 visitors reportedly saw the altered image.

The DOJ described the conspiracy as collecting intelligence for Assad’s government and, by December 2024, that line of operation had ended. Dardar remains a fugitive.