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Sudan: Two Sudanese nationals charged in US cyber attack operation

Photo of Vaseline VaselineOctober 18, 2024
2 2 minutes read
Sudan: Two Sudanese nationals charged in US cyber attack operation

Los Angeles — Two Sudanese citizens have been accused of leading Anonymous Sudan, a cybercriminal group behind tens of thousands of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. DDoS attacks abuse vulnerable networks, often for financial or political motives. An indictment unsealed yesterday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, alleges that these attacks targeted critical infrastructure, government agencies and businesses around the world.

According to the indictment, Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer, 22, and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer, 27, allegedly orchestrated a series of destructive attacks using Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS tool.

The pair have been charged with conspiracy to damage protected computers, and Ahmed Salah faces additional charges of damaging protected computers. If convicted, Ahmed Salah could face life in prison, while Alaa Salah could face up to five years in prison.

“Anonymous Sudan sought to maximize destruction and devastation by attacking hospitals, government networks and businesses,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. He noted that the group’s attacks were particularly egregious and affected emergency services and hospitals providing emergency care.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles was forced to divert patients after its emergency department was out of action for hours due to the attacks.

The two men are accused of running Anonymous Sudan, a prolific group with 80,000 followers on Telegram. Since January 2023, they are said to have disrupted major platforms such as Microsoft, OpenAI and PayPal, according to a report The Washington Post.