ALEXANDRIA, VA, Oct. 30, 2026 — A federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Ahmad Umar Agha to 42 months in prison on Thursday "for his central role in an expansive hacking conspiracy organized and led by members of former Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's inner circle," the Justice Department said.
The department says Agha "hacked approximately 47 Western media entities, businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and U.S. and allied government entities." In one instance, it says, his actions "caused a flash crash in the U.S. stock market, resulting in a temporary $136 billion loss in the value of stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average."
"Today's sentence should serve as a reminder of the National Security Division's long memory in pursuit of state-sponsored hackers such as Agha," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs release, Oct. 29, 2026.
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