Al-Mashriky obtained sensitive data from global platforms exposing more than four million users
A Brit who infiltrated thousands of websites and harvested millions of personal records has been jailed for cybercrime.
Sheffield Crown Court sentenced 25-year-old Al-Tahery Al-Mashriky of Rotherham to 20 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to nine charges under the Computer Misuse Act.
According to the National Crime Agency, Al-Mashriky obtained sensitive data from global platforms, including credentials for Facebook, PayPal, and Netflix accounts, exposing more than four million users. Investigators linked him to the extremist collective Yemen Cyber Army, with forensic analysis revealing hidden web pages promoting political and religious messages on compromised sites.
Authorities said his intrusions included Yemeni government systems, an Israeli news site, faith-based websites in North America, and even the California State Water Board.
Deputy director Paul Foster of the NCA said the attacks caused "significant disruption" while highlighting that stolen data could have been exploited for large-scale fraud. He stressed that the case demonstrates the agency’s ability to unmask offenders who believe they can operate anonymously online.
Written by
Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with 25 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 17 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.
He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Forum, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and the National Cyber Security Show, and served as editor of SC Media UK, Infosecurity Magazine and IT Security Guru. He was also an analyst with 451 Research and a product marketing lead at Tenable.
