Serial hacker sentenced for defacing official websites

Al-Mashriky, aged 26 from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, was arrested by specialist National Crime Agency cyber crime officers in August 2022. Those officers were acting on intelligence supplied by US law enforcement around the activities of extremist hacker groups Spider Team and Yemen Cyber Army.

National Crime Agency investigators were able to link Al-Mashriky to the Yemen Cyber Army through social media and e-mail accounts.

Forensic analysis of Al-Mashriky’s laptop and several mobile phones showed that he had infiltrated a number of websites including the Yemen Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Yemen Ministry of Security Media and also an Israeli news outlet.

Al-Mashriky was also found to have targeted faith websites in Canada and the USA as well as the website for the California State Water Board. The National Crime Agency, working with international law enforcement partners, was able to obtain accounts from the victims of these intrusions, who then gave detailed insights into the significant cost and inconvenience caused.

Significant disruption   

Deputy director Paul Foster, head of the National Crime Agency’s National Cyber Crime Unit, commented: “Al-Mashriky’s attacks crippled the websites that were targeted, in turn causing significant disruption to their users and the organisations themselves, just so that he could push the political and ideological views of the Yemen Cyber Army.”

Foster continued: “Al-Mashriky had also stolen personal data that could have enabled him to target and defraud millions of individuals.”

In conclusion, Foster noted: “Cyber crime can often appear faceless, with the belief that perpetrators hide in the shadows and can avoid detection. However, as this investigation shows, the National Crime Agency has the technical capability to pursue and identify offenders like Al-Mashriky and bring them to justice.”