FBI Hot On Syrian Money Laundering Trail

The Justice Department said on Tuesday (March 22) that it has charged three Syrian nationals — each of them identified as being members (current or former) of the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) — with counts of hacking and conspiracy.

There are two criminal complaints that have been unsealed in Virginia against Peter Romar, Ahmad Umar Agha (known online as “The Pro”) and Firas Dardar (“The Shadow”). Charges levied against Agha and Dardar include setting up hoaxes tied to rumored terrorist attacks and possibly inciting mutiny.

The complaints allege that, beginning in 2011, the pair began a multi-year criminal odyssey under the guise “Syrian Electronic Army” that stood in support of the Syrian government. The initiative was to “spear-phish” and gain inroads into computer systems that belonged to, among others, the U.S. government and a number of international organizations, including media firms. All of them, said the Justice Department, were targeted by SEA as having been “antagonistic” towards Syria’s government.

Upon successful phishing attempts, the two men would use stolen data, including passwords, to deface websites and hijack social media accounts.

Now, Agha and Dardar have been added to the FBI’s Cyber Most Wanted list, and there is a $100,000 reward that is tied to information that leads to their arrest (and they are both believed to be living in Syria).

In reference to the other complaint, beginning in 2013, Dardar and Romar “engaged in multiple conspiracies” to hack online businesses based in the U.S. by gaining access to computers and then effectively holding users hostage until money changed hands.

In a statement that accompanied the release, Assistant Attorney General John Carlin stated: “The Syrian Electronic Army publicly claims that its hacking activities are conducted in support of the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. While some of the activity sought to harm the economic and national security of the United States in the name of Syria, these detailed allegations reveal that the members also used extortion to try to line their own pockets at the expense of law-abiding people all over the world. The allegations in the complaint demonstrate that the line between ordinary criminal hackers and potential national security threats is increasingly blurry.”