# Syrian Electronic Army hacker receives 42-month US prison sentence

_Published Friday, October 30, 2026 at 10:10 AM EDT · Security, Policy · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![Syrian Electronic Army hacker receives 42-month US prison sentence — Primary](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhyw9NKYcR8Nkb28O8I-MA0sr3NhXC_Xr7gjpFqZKFd-29F8pGa5TCuIL2GTBPLAPzQ9iW5DsU_2zK-pUWIar_TdJdKiQMsptNjA-XxvVwMACBSQR9tW_qAC8d7I21YdqraYoY5LdWCRE8vKXjrxYCEW8X7ZbPulwCzdTdxODqnMuJbqQUZStRMRiKHc/s1700-nu-rw-lo-l85-e365/tweets.jpg)

A US federal court sentenced Ahmad Umar Agha to 42 months in prison for his role in a hacking conspiracy targeting Western news outlets. The Justice Department announced the sentence on October 29 and said the conspiracy was organized and led by members of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle.

The department said Agha hacked about 47 media outlets, businesses, nonprofit groups and government bodies. It attributed the 2013 Associated Press Twitter account takeover to him; the false White House explosion report caused a temporary $136 billion drop in Dow Jones Industrial Average stock values. Three earlier public case documents did not describe Syrian officials organizing or leading the group.

## Sources

- [The Hacker News](https://thehackernews.com/2026/10/syrian-hacker-behind-fake-tweet-that.html)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/6UmyQghG5IEZBZ8anAkltU
Published: 2026-10-30T14:10:36.849Z
Story chronology: 2026-10-29T00:00:00.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-10-30T16:45:29.482Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)