“Serial Hacker” Sentenced to 20 Months in UK Prison

Rotherham hacker Al-Tahery Al-Mashriky jailed for 20 months after global cyberattacks, stealing millions of logins and targeting government websites.

When police knocked on the door of a home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in August 2022, they ended a hacking spree that had stretched across North America, the Middle East and Israel. The man behind it, 26-year-old Al-Tahery Al-Mashriky, had spent months hacking into websites and collecting the personal details of millions of unsuspecting people.

Investigators say Al-Mashriky was linked by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to hacker groups known as the Spider Team and the Yemen Cyber Army. These groups are known for targeting government bodies, media outlets and public organisations while spreading political and ideological messages through cyber attacks.

A forensic examination of his seized laptop and phones revealed that Al-Mashriky hacked into the Yemen Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Yemen Ministry of Security Media and an Israeli news website. In some cases, he defaced websites to spread his political messages.

In 2015, Hackread.com reported that the Yemen Cyber Army had hacked the official website of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, defaced it, stole data and leaked the information online.

According to NCA’s press release, Al-Mashriky was a “Serial hacker” looking for fame. On one cybercrime forum, Al-Mashriky bragged that he had compromised more than 3,000 websites in just three months.

He also leaked data, and one of the leaks contained stolen data belonging to over four million Facebook users, as well as login details for services including Netflix and PayPal, all of which could have been used for fraud.

The attacks did not stop at Middle Eastern or Israeli targets. Evidence showed he also compromised faith-based websites in Canada and the United States, as well as the California State Water Board, causing disruption that forced victims into expensive recovery efforts.

Al-Mashriky pleaded guilty to nine counts under the Computer Misuse Act and on 15 August was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Paul Foster, deputy director of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said the case highlights the human cost behind cybercrime. “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 linked to the United Kingdom has escalated in recent months. In July, four suspects were arrested from homes across London, Staffordshire and the West Midlands. The group included two 19-year-old men, a 17-year-old boy and a 20-year-old woman.

Prosecutors say they were behind large-scale attacks on major retailers including M&S, Co-op and Harrods. The incident involving M&S alone is reported to have caused around £300 million in damages.

In September 2024, John Andreas Wik, 37, from Beckenham, was arrested after hijacking free public WiFi networks at train stations across the UK to display offensive Islamophobic messages. In July 2025, he was handed a 24-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, which means he will not serve time in jail unless he commits another offence during that period.