Yemen Monitor/London/Exclusive:
Al-Taheri Al-Mashriqi, a 26-year-old Yemeni hacker, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison after being convicted of hacking government websites in Yemen, as well as other organizations in North America and Israel, according to the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
Al-Mashriqi was arrested in August 2022 in South Yorkshire, UK, following intelligence provided by US law enforcement agencies. The intelligence indicated his involvement with extremist hacking groups such as the “Yemeni Electronic Army” and “Spider Team.”
A forensic analysis of his devices revealed that he had breached sensitive websites in his home country, including the websites of the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Yemeni Ministry of Security Information. According to the investigations, Al-Mashriqi published hidden pages on these sites with aliases and messages that supported his political and religious ideology.
Evidence also showed that he had downloaded an entire Israeli news website and was in possession of personal data for more than 4 million Facebook users, in addition to usernames and passwords for other services.
The NCA confirmed that Al-Mashriqi’s attacks caused significant damage and disruption to his victims, noting that the sentence proves law enforcement’s ability to pursue cybercriminals and bring them to justice no matter where they try to hide.
