Syrian hacker gets US prison time for spree that included takeover of Marine Corps site

Syrian hacker Ahmad Umar Agha sentenced for 2011-2014 cyberattack spree that included hijacking a Marine Corps recruitment site to urge troops to disobey orders.

Syrian hacker sentenced for 2011-2014 cyberattack spree that included hijacking a Marine Corps recruitment site to urge troops to disobey orders. A Marine Corps recruit does a plank during physical training in Puyallup, Wash., Sept. 2, 2026. Syrian hacker Ahmad Umar Agha, whose crimes included a hijacking of the Marine Corps recruiting website, was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in prison. (Aimee Jordan/U.S. Marine Corps) A Syrian man who hijacked the Marines’ recruiting website to urge troops to disobey orders and fight alongside the forces of ousted autocrat Bashar Assad was sentenced to three-plus years in prison, the Justice Department said this week. Ahmad Umar Agha, a member of the Syrian Electronic Army hacking group, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Virginia for his role in a cyber campaign carried out on behalf of the former regime.

The campaign targeted dozens of organizations, including U.S. government agencies and news outlets. It also set up an operation that attempted to turn Marines against their own military, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors said Agha participated in attacks against approximately 47 organizations during a hacking conspiracy that stretched from 2011 to 2024. Assad’s government, a staunch Russian ally, was overthrown by a rebel coalition in December 2024 after a long civil war. In September 2013, Agha gained access to a