Additional Coverage:
Brothers Indicted for Cyberattacks
Two Sudanese brothers have been indicted for allegedly leading “Anonymous Sudan,” a notorious cyberattack-for-hire gang. The indictment claims they carried out tens of thousands of attacks, including against Microsoft, Yahoo, the Pentagon, and Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
Ideological Motive
Prosecutors allege the brothers had a “Sudanese nationalist ideology” and charged $600 or less for major attacks. The group targeted governments, businesses, and hospitals worldwide.
Hospital Attack
The attack on Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in February temporarily closed emergency services, putting patients’ lives at risk. If convicted of charges related to this attack, one brother faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Modus Operandi
Anonymous Sudan allegedly used the Distributed Cloud Attack Tool (DCAT) to launch DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks, flooding websites with traffic and making them unusable.
Investigation and Arrests
The FBI seized the DCAT tool, disabling the attack platform. The brothers were arrested abroad in March and remain in custody. The country holding them and the possibility of extradition have not been disclosed.