Pierluigi Paganini March 23, 2016

Three members of the Syrian Electronic Army hacker crew have been inserted by the US authorities in the list of most wanted criminals.

The Syrian Electronic Army, aka SEA, is considered one of most dreaded hacking crew that first appeared in 2011. According to the report “Syrian Electronic Army – Hacktivision to Cyber Espionage?,” published in 2014, in the beginning, the Syrian Electronic Army was mainly politically motivated, members of the collective hacked to spread political messages pro Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

But over time, the group has increased its popularity, targeting principal enterprises like Microsoft and Twitter, and media agencies like The New York Times, Reuters, the Associated Press, E! Online, Time, CNN, The Washington Post, The Daily Dot, Vice, Human Rights Watch, Harvard University, NASA and The Onion.

The list of victims of the Syrian Electronic Army also includes the US CENTCOM and the White House.

As revealed by the reports the “SEA has evolved into the realm of global espionage, where some of their targets are “C” level executives at technology and media companies, allied military procurement officers, United States defense contractors, and foreign attaches and embassies.”

Now three members of the Syrian Electronic Army were inserted by the FBI in the FBI Most Wanted List, they are:

The three alleged members of the hacker collective are thought to be actually resident in Syria, it is impossible to arrest them over there.

The US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are willing to pay $100,000 reward for any information that leads to the capture of the alleged leaders of the Syrian Electronic Army.

Agha and Dardar have been added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

The authorities believe that Ahmad Umar Agha and Firas Dardar were involved in the hacking of the Twitter Account of the Associated Press in April 2013, the hackers spread fake news of a cyber attack against the White House that had a serious effect on the stock market.

“Cybercriminals cause significant damage and disruption around the world, often under the veil of anonymity,” said Assistant Director Trainor.  “As this case shows, we will continue to work closely with our partners to identify these individuals and bring them to justice, regardless of where they are.”

“These three members of the Syrian Electronic Army targeted and compromised computer systems in order to provide support to the Assad regime as well as for their own personal monetary gain through extortion,” said Assistant Director in Charge Abbate.  “As a result of a thorough cyber investigation, FBI agents and analysts identified the perpetrators and now continue to work with our domestic and international partners to ensure these individuals face justice in the United States.  I want to thank the dedicated FBI personnel, federal prosecutors, and our law enforcement partners for their tremendous efforts to ensure on-line criminal activity is countered, U.S. cyber infrastructure is safeguarded, and violators are held accountable under the law.”

“The tireless efforts of U.S. prosecutors and our investigative partners have allowed us to identify individuals who have been responsible for inflicting damage on U.S. government and private entities through computer intrusions,” said U.S. Attorney Boente.  “Today’s announcement demonstrates that we will continue to pursue these individuals no matter where they are in the world.”