US justice department indicts two Anonymous Sudan operatives

The US Department of Justice has indicted two Sudanese individuals accused of running the Anonymous Sudan cybercriminal group that allegedly conducted numerous denial-of-service attacks on several critical websites and knocked them offline.

 

In a recent press release, the DoJ said that both the individuals, Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer, 22, and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer, 27, have been charged with “one count of conspiracy to damage protected computers. Ahmed Salah was also charged with three counts of damaging protected computers.”

 

Around the same time, Europol said in a press release that it worked with law enforcement agencies across Europe to “identify victims and suspects, ensuring swift action in multiple jurisdictions.”

 

“Authorities in Sweden, Luxembourg and France, alongside the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and the European Investment Bank, provided crucial intelligence which helped map out the criminal activity and associated infrastructure. These contributions were essential in supporting both Europol’s coordination efforts and the U.S. authorities," Europol said.

 

“Anonymous Sudan’s DDoS tool was used to launch over 35,000 DDoS attacks in approximately one year, causing more than USD 10 million (EUR 9,145,000) in damages to victims in the USA alone,” it added.

 

According to court documents, since early 2023, Anonymous Sudan and its affiliates used the group’s Distributed Cloud Attack Tool (DCAT) to conduct more than 35,000 DDoS attacks, with at least 70 targeting computers in the greater Los Angeles area.

 

Victims of the attacks included the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the FBI, government websites for the state of Alabama Microsoft Corp. and Riot Games and more.

 

In a statement shared with the media, United States Attorney Martin Estrada, said, “Anonymous Sudan sought to maximize havoc and destruction against governments and businesses around the world by perpetrating tens of thousands of cyberattacks.”

 

Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office added, “The FBI’s seizure of this powerful DDoS tool successfully disabled the attack platform that caused widespread damage and disruptions to critical infrastructure and networks around the world.”

 

If convicted of all charges, Ahmed Salah would face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and Alaa Salah would face a maximum sentence of five years.