Newly unsealed grand jury documents revealed that two Sudanese nationals, Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer, allegedly attempted to launch thousands of distributed denial of services (DDoS) attacks on systems across the world, aiming to cause serious financial and technical harm to government entities and companies, and even physical harm in some cases. Charged by the US Department of Justice and connected to more than 35,000 DDoS attacks, the brothers were part of the cybercrime group Anonymous Sudan, targeting organizations, websites, and networks. Despite claiming to be activists, the pair also held systems for ransom for rates as high as $1,700 per month. Facing indictments for conspiracy to damage protected computers, Ahmed could receive a maximum sentence of life in federal prison. Their activities, dating back to early 2023, included using a tool called “Skynet Botnet” to conduct destructive DDoS attacks and publicly claim credit for them. These attacks targeted entities worldwide, including airports, software networks, and companies like Cloudflare, Paypal, and Microsoft. One major attack on Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles led to the filing of hacking charges against Ahmed, potentially resulting in life sentences. FBI gathered evidence of the brothers’ illegal activities, including selling access to Skynet Botnet to over 100 customers. The brazen attacks also targeted Israel’s rocket alert system and other utilities. US Attorney Martin Estrada condemned the group’s actions, stating that cyber criminals would be held accountable for the harm caused.
