A serial hacker from South Yorkshire has been sentenced to prison after infiltrating thousands of websites worldwide and stealing the personal data of millions of users.
Al-Tahery Al-Mashriky, 26, of Rotherham, was arrested in August 2022 by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) following intelligence shared by U.S. law enforcement on the activities of extremist cyber groups Spider Team and the Yemen Cyber Army.
Investigators were able to link Al-Mashriky to the Yemen Cyber Army through his social media activity and email accounts. Forensic analysis of his laptop and phones later revealed the true scale of his cybercrimes.
A Global Trail of Hacks
Evidence showed that Al-Mashriky had targeted a wide range of organisations across North America, Yemen, and Israel. His method involved exploiting weak website security, gaining unauthorized access, and then defacing sites with hidden pages bearing his online aliases and political or religious messages.
He boasted on underground cybercrime forums that he had hacked over 3,000 websites in just three months during 2022. Among his confirmed victims were the Yemen Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Yemen Ministry of Security Media, the California State Water Board, and an Israeli news outlet, which he completely downloaded after accessing its administrator pages.
Al-Mashriky also targeted faith-based websites in Canada and the U.S., further demonstrating the ideological motivations behind many of his attacks.
Massive Data Theft
Perhaps most alarming was the discovery of vast amounts of stolen personal data on his devices. NCA forensic officers found records belonging to over 4 million Facebook users, along with files containing usernames and passwords for services such as Netflix and PayPal. Investigators said the data could have enabled large-scale fraud and further cybercrime.
Legal Proceedings and Sentence
Al-Mashriky was charged with ten offences under the Computer Misuse Act and was due to stand trial at Sheffield Crown Court in March 2024. However, on March 17 he pleaded guilty to nine counts.
On sentencing, the court handed him a 20-month prison term. While shorter than prosecutors initially sought, the sentence reflects the severity of his crimes and the disruption caused to international organisations.
NCA Response
Paul Foster, Deputy Director of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, stressed that the case demonstrates law enforcement’s ability to track and prosecute cyber offenders:
“Al-Mashriky’s attacks crippled the websites targeted, causing significant disruption to their users and organisations, just so that he could push the political and ideological views of the ‘Yemen Cyber Army.’ He had also stolen personal data that could have enabled him to target and defraud millions of people.”
Foster added that while cybercrime can appear anonymous, “the NCA has the technical capability to pursue and identify offenders like Al-Mashriky and bring them to justice.”
The case highlights the ongoing threat posed by politically motivated hackers and the international cooperation needed to combat cybercrime on a global scale.
