A cyber criminal who hacked into the websites of organisations in North America, Yemen and Israel and stole the log in details of millions of people has been jailed.
Al-Tahery Al-Mashriky, 26, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was arrested by specialist National Crime Agency cybercrime officers in August 2022, who were acting on intelligence supplied by US law enforcement around the activities of extremist hacker groups ‘Spider Team’ and ‘Yemen Cyber Army.
NCA investigators were able to link Al-Mashriky to the Yemen Cyber Army through social media and email accounts.
Forensic analysis of his laptop and several mobile phones showed that Al-Mashriky had infiltrated a number of websites including the Yemen Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Yemen Ministry of Security Media and an Israeli news outlet.
Al-Mashriky was also found to have targeted faith websites in Canada and the USA as well as the website for the California State Water Board. The NCA, working with international law enforcement partners, was able to obtain accounts from the victims of these intrusions, who gave detailed insights into the significant cost and inconvenience he had caused.
Deputy Director Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said:
“Al-Mashriky’s attacks crippled the websites targeted, causing significant disruption to their users and the organisations, just so that he could push the political and ideological views of the ‘Yemen Cyber Army’.
“He had also stolen personal data that could have enabled him to target and defraud millions of people.
“Cybercrime 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.”
16 August 2025
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