The FBI arrested a Texas man on Thursday for allegedly planning to "kill of about 70% of the internet" in a bomb attack targeting an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center on Smith Switch Road in Ashburn, Virginia.
Seth Aaron Pendley, 28, was charged via criminal complaint on Friday morning for attempting to destroy a building using C-4 plastic explosives he tried to buy from an undercover FBI employee.
The FBI got wind of the suspect's plans in January when he revealed his plot on the MyMilitia website using a 'Dionysus' handle, a forum used by militia members and supporters to organize and communicate.
FBI agents found in late January from another source Pendley contacted using the Signal encrypted messaging app that he was planning to use C-4 plastic explosives to attack Amazon's data centers in an attempt to "kill off about 70% of the internet," according to the criminal complaint filed today.
In February, Pendley shared with the source a hand-made map of Amazon's Virginia-based AWS data center "featuring proposed routes of ingress and egress at the facility."
The same source introduced the suspect to an undercover FBI employee posing as an explosives supplier at the end of March.
Pendley told the "supplier" that he was planning to bomb servers he believed were used by the FBI, CIA, and other US federal agencies. His plot also included taking down the "oligarchy" currently leading the United States.
Undercover FBI employee hands suspect a dud
He met with the undercover FBI employee on April 8 to get what he believed were explosive devices. Instead, he received inert devices.
The suspect was arrested by FBI agents after placing them into his car, following a demonstration from the "explosives supplier" on how to arm and detonate them.
If he is found guilty of planning to blow up Amazon's Virginia data center, Pendley faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
"We are indebted to the concerned citizen who came forward to report the defendant’s alarming online rhetoric," Acting US. Attorney Prerak Shah said.
"In flagging his posts to the FBI, this individual may have saved the lives of a number of tech workers.
"We are also incredibly proud of our FBI partners, who ensured that the defendant was apprehended with an inert explosive device before he could inflict real harm."
Amazon shared the following statement with BleepingComputer about the planned attack.
“We would like to thank the FBI for their work in this investigation. We take the safety and security of our staff and customer data incredibly seriously, and constantly review various vectors for any potential threats. We will continue to retain this vigilance about our employees and customers.” - An AWS Spokesperson.
Update 4/9/21 6:02 PM EST: Added statement from Amazon
Comments
Paperclip - 3 years ago
Ironic that he wants to blow up the internet, yet he posted his intentions on it...
Also, doesn't the idiot realise that blowing up one data center will not take out 70% of the net...
buddy215 - 3 years ago
MyMilitia's goal is to recruit hundreds of thousands that are just as dangerous as this terrorist. Many major businesses have and still do profit from supporting MyMilitia. Businesses such as Google, PayPal, GoDaddy, CloudFlare, Venmo, CashApp and GiveSendGo.
MyMilitia and its patrons were protected and encouraged by the past administration. Most Republican pols in the House, Senate and multiple states have and still do protect and encourage these terrorist groups / militias. Note that thousands of these terrorists / insurrectionists attempted to do Trump's bidding by slaughtering Congress people who would not violate our Constitution and laws.
DentonPowell72 - 3 years ago
Yea buddy do you live near DC? Have you seen how the people that run our county act? You seem one sided to the extreme.
maximumpeaches - 3 years ago
I guess he's never heard of backups...
buddy215 - 3 years ago
Pendley boasted on Facebook about being at the Capitol on Jan. 6 along with thousands more of Trump's army of insurrectionists. Our security agencies have declared these white nationalist militias the biggest threat to our safety and security. The Republican Party pols give aid and comfort to these organized gangs of what I call terrorists.
Two months before the last election...August, 2020....Homeland Security described the threat from white supremacists as the deadliest domestic terror threat facing the U.S., listed above the immediate danger from foreign terrorist groups.
“Foreign terrorist organizations will continue to call for Homeland attacks but probably will remain constrained in their ability to direct such plots over the next year,” all three documents say.
Russia “probably will be the primary covert foreign influence actor and purveyor of disinformation and misinformation in the Homeland,” the documents also say.
ScribblerG - 3 years ago
@Buddy215 After a truly massive manhunt, the FBI and other police agencies have been able to charge 300 people with crimes from that day. Of that, only 40 have any serious charges related to rioting or assault. The remainder face simple trespass. Not a single firearm was found - yet many of those people owned firearms but did not bring them. And the cop who dies, Sicknick was not beaten to death with a fire extinguisher, the NYtimes had to retract that. And since, the medical examiner has quite abnormally not released Officer Sickinick's autopsy. Perhaps that's because Sicknick talked to his brother and sister after the riot, that night and he told them he was fine. He dropped dead walking down a hall from a stroke it sounds like - but that's just rumor. As of now the medical examiner is stonewallling so hysterics can pretend there are killer terrorists out there on the right.
The vast majority of the 200,000 Trumps supporters who showed up to the rally at the speech and then the capital were peaceful. You don't get to pretend there was an "insurrection" so you can categorize thousands of people who merely disagree with you as terrorists.
And then you Revert to Russian secrets, wow. You must be one of the tiny sub 1 pct of Americans who watch a lot of MSNBC...
As for this guy, isn't it interesting he was buying the explosives from an FBI agent? I saw this pattern with numerous FBI Islamic terrorist stings, always surrounded and being supplied with weapons by FBI agents. I want to know a lot more about how this went down.
d-reaper - 3 years ago
It's just another person going crazy as a result of this pandemic. Funny how this guy posted his intentions online of all things about his plan to kill "70% of the Internet." Amazon Web Servers aren't the only servers in the world... Then there's also backups. Like seriously. Where do people get these ideas? Right, they're crazy. I forgot.
ScribblerG - 3 years ago
Could it be "they" get these ideas from the FBI agents who entrap them? Note the sale of the explosives was an FBI undercover. We saw a ton of this in various Islamic terrorist 'plots' that were supposedly disrupted only to discover the FBI encouraged them and egged them on. We need all the facts of this investigation.
d-reaper - 3 years ago
I see...
SamP12345 - 2 years ago
I doubt a "concerned citizen" actually was the source of the alert