7 Indicted Iranian Nationals Now Hit with Sanctions by US Treasury

Seven alleged Iranian hackers from security companies working on behalf of that nation's government that were indicted by the US Department of Justice in early 2016 now have been slapped with new sanctions by the US Department of Treasury.

Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned a total of 11 Iranian entities and individuals for alleged support of malicious cyber activity as well as two Iran-based networks behind the massive distributed denial-of-service attacks that hit US financial institutions in 2012. 

Ahmad Fathi, 37; Hamid Firoozi, 34; Amin Shokohi, 25; Sadegh Ahmadzadegan, aka Nitr0jen26, 23; Omid Ghaffarinia, aka PLuS, 25; Sina Keissar, 25; and Nader Saedi, aka Turk Server, 26; allegedly launched DDoS attacks against 46 organizations - mainly US financial institutions - from late 2011 to mid-2013, and were indicted by the DoJ last year. Firoozi was also charged with hacking into a server at a New York dam between August and September 2013. The seven Iranians were employed by ITSecTeam (ITSEC) and Mersad Company (MERSAD), both of which were working for the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

According to the Treasury Department's announcement, the new sanctions mean that "all property and interests in property of those designated subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them."

Any foreign financial institutions that conduct or facilitate transactions for the sanctioned individuals or entities - as well as individuals who support them materially - also face possible sanctions, the Treasury said. The sanctions also included organizations allegedly supporting terrorist activities.

Read the Treasury Dept. sanctions announcement here.

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