A member of the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) extradited from Germany pleaded guilty to felony charges for his part in a multiyear conspiracy to unlawfully access computers, threaten victims with data and hardware damage, and extort payments for personal profit.
Beginning in 2011, Peter Romar, 37, coordinated with other members of the SEA to breach the computer systems of perceived detractors of Syrian President Bashar Assad, including media and government entities. In addition, Romar played a part in an extortion scheme launched in 2013 that involved the intrusion and threatening of online U.S. businesses if money was not directed to the conspiracy's Syrian bank accounts — sometimes through Romar in Germany as an intermediary to evade sanctions.
Sentencing for the case — investigated by the FBI with assistance from the NASA Office of the Inspector General, the Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security and other law enforcement agencies — will be on Oct. 21. Romar faces a maximum penalty of five years. Co-defendant Firas Dardar, known online as "The Shadow," remains at large.
"Today's guilty plea is by the latest international offender who believed that he could operate from abroad, behind the perceived veil of anonymity offered by the Internet, and use computers to threaten the security of our citizens and their property," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin said in a news release. "It shows that the Department of Justice and the FBI stand behind their pledge to hold accountable foreign actors who assist in the hacking of U.S. victims."
