Cyber Assault Linked to Hamas Attack
In the early hours of October 7, 2023, as Hamas militants orchestrated a significant breach along the Israeli border, a young Sudanese man named Ahmed Omer initiated a different kind of offensive. Utilizing his skills in computer technology, Omer launched a sophisticated long-distance cyberattack targeting the online early warning systems employed by Israel to alert its citizens to imminent dangers.
This cyber incursion briefly incapacitated the warning systems, effectively obstructing crucial alerts that could have potentially saved lives amidst Hamas’s devastating assault, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 individuals and the abduction of over 200 people.
This alarming scenario forms the basis of the criminal indictment recently unsealed in California against both Ahmed Omer and his brother, Alaa Omer. According to U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada for the Central District of California, the Omer brothers were part of a notorious cyber group known as Anonymous Sudan, described as “the most dangerous cyber group in terms of DDoS attacks in the world.”
The brothers are accused of orchestrating a staggering 35,000 cyberattacks during the span of their operations, primarily leveraging distributed denial of service (DDoS) techniques. Their attacks wreaked havoc on numerous websites belonging to various government entities, including the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, as well as major news organizations like The Washington Post and CNN.
Moreover, the indictment reveals that their cyber onslaughts extended to hospitals across multiple nations, presenting a serious threat to public health and safety.
The details outlined in the indictment highlight the Omer brothers’ actions against the United States, Israel, and several other countries, including Denmark, France, and Sweden. The California attorney’s office asserts its jurisdiction on the grounds that the cyber operations directly targeted American entities.
Notably, in February of the same year, the Omer brothers were implicated in a significant cyberattack that incapacitated critical computer systems at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. This incident forced emergency services to reroute patients to alternative medical facilities temporarily, underscoring the grave implications of their actions. At the time, the brothers justified their attack as a form of retaliation against Israel for its aerial assaults on hospitals in Gaza.
