Cyber crime forums

However, the scale of Al-Mashriky’s offending did not stop there. The NCA revealed he may have hacked over 3,000 websites in total in 2022, and took to bragging of his exploits on underground cyber crime forums, where he gained a certain amount of kudos from his peers.

The NCA’s forensic investigators found Al-Mashriky was in possession of the personal data of over four million Facebook users, and had obtained documents containing usernames and login credentials for other online services, including Netflix and PayPal. The NCA said this data could have been used to commission further acts of cyber crime and digital fraud.

“He had also stolen personal data that could have enabled him to target and defraud millions of people,” said Foster.

“Cyber crime can often appear faceless, with the belief that perpetrators hide in the shadows and can avoid detection. However, as this investigation shows, the NCA has the technical capability to pursue and identify offenders like Al-Mashriky and bring them to justice.”

Yemen Cyber Army

The Yemen Cyber Army is a somewhat mysterious group that first emerged in the mid-2010s with a series of cyber attacks and threats against Saudi Arabian targets. It may have been the source of a 2015 leak of half a million Saudi Foreign Ministry cables by WikiLeaks, although this is disputed.

Over the years, the group’s objectives have appeared to align largely with the Islamist Houthi insurgency, which is backed by the Iranian government in Tehran.

However, owing both to the devastation wrought by the Yemeni Civil War, and analysis of malware samples linked to the Yemen Cyber Army, it is thought unlikely that the group has many, if any, actual members located in Yemen itself. Most security authorities believe the group is most likely a front for Iran’s state-backed cyber activities.