Two Sudanese indicted in U.S. over ‘Anonymous Sudan’ cyberattacks

 October 16, 2024 (LOS ANGELES) – Two Sudanese nationals have been charged with running the “Anonymous Sudan” hacking group, accused of unleashing tens of thousands of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on critical infrastructure and government agencies worldwide, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.

Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer, 22, and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer, 27, were charged with conspiracy to damage protected computers, according to an indictment unsealed in Los Angeles federal court. Omer also faces three counts of damaging protected computers.

Prosecutors allege that since early 2023, the defendants used a tool dubbed “Godzilla,” “Skynet,” or “InfraShutdown” to launch over 35,000 DDoS attacks, including at least 70 targeting computers in the Los Angeles area.

Victims included the U.S. Departments of Justice, Defense, and State, the FBI, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and technology companies Microsoft and Riot Games. The attacks caused outages and over $10 million in damages to U.S. victims alone, prosecutors said.

In March 2024, U.S. authorities seized and disabled key components of the “Godzilla” tool, disrupting Anonymous Sudan’s operations.

“This group’s attacks were callous and brazen – the defendants went so far as to attack hospitals providing emergency and urgent care to patients,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement.

If convicted on all counts, Omer faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, while Yusuuf Omer faces up to five years.

The case is part of “Operation PowerOFF,” an international effort to dismantle criminal DDoS-for-hire infrastructure.