A federal grand jury has indicted seven Iranian people whom government investigators believe have orchestrated extensive denial-of-service attacks on U.S. financial services institutions between December 2012 and September 2013.
The Justice Department said Thursday computer hacking charges have been filed against Ahmad Fathi, Hamid Firoozi, Amin Shokohi, Sadegh Ahmadzadegan, Omid Ghaffarinia, Sina Keissar and Nader Saedi.
These individuals worked for Iranian security firms ITSecTeam and Mersad and are accused of working on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to conduct a massive DDoS campaign against U.S.-based banks that lasted for approximately 176 days.
“In unsealing this indictment, the Department of Justice is sending a powerful message: that we will not allow any individual, group, or nation to sabotage American financial institutions or undermine the integrity of fair competition in the operation of the free market,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch told a press conference Thursday.
Prosecutors also charged Firoozi with unauthorized access to the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition server at the Rye, New York-based Bowman Dam during 2013.
DOJ noted all of the seven cyber attack suspects face up to 10 years in prison and Firoozi could face an additional five-year imprisonment for the dam breach.