Governor Kay Ivey applauded the federal indictment of two Sudanese nationals for cyberattacks against Alabama and multiple other states on Wednesday.
An unsealed federal grand jury indictment charges two individuals with operating and controlling Anonymous Sudan, an online cybercriminal group responsible for tens of thousands of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
DDoS attacks flood systems with traffic designed to make a service or domain inaccessible to legitimate users.
Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer, 22, and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer, 27, were both charged with one count of conspiracy to damage protected computers. Ahmed Salah was also charged with three counts of damaging protected computers.
“Anonymous Sudan sought to maximize havoc and destruction against governments and businesses around the world by perpetrating tens of thousands of cyberattacks,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “This group’s attacks were callous and brazen—the defendants went so far as to attack hospitals providing emergency and urgent care to patients. My office is committed to safeguarding our nation’s infrastructure and the people who use it, and we will hold cyber criminals accountable for the grave harm they cause.”
In March, multiple Alabama government agencies were targeted with coordinated DDoS attacks. Ivey said then that no government networks were breached and that no data was stolen in the cyberattack.
“Criminal activity of any kind, including that coming from outside of our state, will not be tolerated in Alabama,” Ivey said. “I am thankful for the quick action of our Office of Information Technology, and I applaud the indictment of these individuals responsible for this attempt to disrupt state government and many other operations around the world. Any individual or organization who attempts to harm our state, our citizens or our way of life will be subject to prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.”
In addition to Alabama’s government sites, the victims of the attacks include sensitive government and critical infrastructure targets within the U.S. and around the world, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the FBI, the State Department, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. They also included major U.S. technology platforms, including Microsoft Corp. and Riot Games Inc., and network service providers. The attacks resulted in reported network outages affecting thousands of customers.
If convicted, Ahmed Salah could face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, and Alaa Salah would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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