The US Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) arrested two men for their role in the online hacktivist group, Anonymous Sudan.

The group specialized in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) operations and succeeded in DDoSing over 35,000 organizations, taking down massive companies and even governments with its relentlessly fierce DDoS attacks. In 2023, it took down Microsoft, SAS airlines, the French government, the US Justice Department, and US states.

More victims include Lyft, Tinder, and international hospitals, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. These are just a few examples of its devastating attacks internationally. Despite starting in 2023, the group used specialized tools to rapidly DDoS companies quickly, becoming one of the most aggressive hacking groups ever seen.

The group maintains that the reason it attacked the US and other Western targets is due to their support of Ukraine with its war against Russia. Anonymous Sudan would also mock the victims of attacks on Telegram while undermining that organization’s defenses.

“Think about it, if a company as big as Microsoft cannot defend itself from a small Sudanese group with very slow internet speeds, how can you ever trust such a company?” it wrote in one post.

It also included screenshots to prove successes and would share updates. One series of posts chronicled Anonymous Sudan repeatedly attacking one company for several months as a joke. However, the prolific crime spree is over. The FBI arrested two Sudanese brothers, Ahmed Salah Yousif Omer (22), and Alaa Salah Yusuuf Omer (27).

They are now facing one count of conspiracy to damage protected computers. The younger brother also faces three counts of damaging protected computers. The arrests were shocking to some, as many professionals maintained that Anonymous Sudan wasn’t based in Sudan and was a front for Russian hackers.

The younger brother, Ahmed Salah faces life in prison if he’s found guilty of the charges. Alaa Salah faces a maximum of five years.