The U.S. authorities on Wednesday introduced the arrest and charging of two Sudanese brothers, accused of working in cahoots with a notorious terrorist network. A notorious cybercrime group renowned for unleashing devastating distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against a diverse range of victims, including multiple hospital networks, prominent news websites, and major cloud service providers. The young man’s reckless behavior has led to allegations of attempted murder and assault, putting him at risk of facing serious legal consequences, including life imprisonment.
Picture: FBI
Since at least January 2023, the enigmatic group AnonSudan has been portrayed in media narratives as a “hacktivist” collective driven by fervent ideological convictions. However, the FBI highlighted these prominent cyberattacks as successful advertisements for the hackers’ DDoS-for-hire service, available to paying customers for as little as $150 daily – permitting up to 100 assaults per day – or $700 weekly.
Despite claims that Nameless Sudan might be a state-sponsored Russian operation masquerading as a Sudanese hacking collective driven by Islamist ideology, the group’s origins were rooted in the leadership of two Sudanese brothers, aged 22 and 27, who spearheaded AnonSudan from within Sudan itself.
A hacking group known as Anomalous Sudan allegedly took credit for a series of successful distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks targeting several US-based organizations, claiming significant financial gains from these operations. Corporations faced significant challenges when using Microsoft’s cloud providers in June 2023? The group hit the road next month, adopting a new strategy in August? 2023), and (Nov. 2023). In the Central District of California, a court filing observes that the duo inundated the websites of both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Prosecutors claim that Nameless Sudan offered a “Restricted Web Shutdown Package,” capable of shutting down internet service providers in designated countries, available for purchase at $500 per hour. Two males allegedly extorted several victims by demanding payment in exchange for halting distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against their online presence.
The US government has refused to disclose the location where brothers Omer are currently detained, merely stating that they were taken into custody in March 2024 and remain incarcerated to this day? Following the arrests of two individuals in March, the federal government took control of AnonSudan’s DDoS infrastructure and servers, with a subsequent statement issued by the entity claiming that this development was part of their efforts to disrupt cyberattacks.
AnonSudan reportedly accepted orders through moment messaging services, promoting its DDoS offering under various monikers, including “”, “” and the “”. Notably, the Omer brothers’ allegedly built DDoS machine deviated from conventional botnets by not comprising hacked devices.
The federal government contends that Skynet resembled a “distributed cloud-borne assault software,” featuring a command and control (C2) server and a comprehensive fleet of cloud-based servers that relay C2 directives to an array of open proxy resolvers operated by unrelated third parties, which subsequently disseminate the DDoS attack data to the targeted entities.
The company was among several corporations credited with assisting the federal government in the investigation, and reportedly, AnonSudan launched its attacks by identifying web hosting companies willing to rent out small armies of servers.
“The tipping point for a potential attacker’s impact occurs when they gain access to thousands of diverse machines, often misconfigured internet servers, through which nearly anyone can redirect malicious traffic.” The true extent of a military force’s capability remains concealed from adversaries through the use of additional layers of equipment.
The Sudanese hacktivist group AnonSudan’s successful DDoS attacks were attributed to a combination of factors, including the development of sophisticated techniques to evade traditional DDoS mitigation strategies. The anonymity of AnonSudan often led to “distributed denial-of-service” (DDoS) attacks that targeted specific servers responsible for handling website requests, overwhelming them with fake queries and rendering them incapable of serving legitimate visitors?
The Omer brothers were each charged with one count of conspiracy to wreck protected computer systems. The younger brother, Ahmed Salah, faced additional charges for allegedly damaging three protected computer systems.
Passport for Ahmed Salah Yusuf Omar. Picture: FBI.
If extradited to the US, Alaa Salah, the older brother, risks facing up to five years in prison if tried and convicted in a court of law. Prosecutors claim Ahmed Salah could face a possible life sentence for allegedly perpetrating attacks designed to take innocent lives.
As Hamas fighters breached the border fence, launching a surprise attack against Israeli targets on October 29, On March 7, 2023, a wave of rockets was launched at Israel. Here is the rewritten text:
Meanwhile, AnonSudan announced it was targeting the APIs powering Israel’s popular “Purple Alert” mobile apps, which warn citizens of impending rocket attacks in their vicinity.
In February 2024, Anonymous Sudan orchestrated a cyberattack on healthcare facilities within the Los Angeles area, prompting emergency responders and patients to be rapidly rerouted to alternative hospitals.
In September 2023, Sudanese hacking group AnonSudan allegedly launched a sustained, week-long Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack against Kenya’s web infrastructure, resulting in the temporary outage of critical services including government providers, banks, universities, and at least seven hospitals.
