OFAC Sanctions Companies, People for Iran Cyber Attacks

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 23 sanctioned two companies and four people for their roles in malicious cyber activity against more than a dozen U.S. companies and government entities on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC).

The designations target IRGC-CEC front companies Dadeh Afzar Arman (DAA) and Mehrsam Andisheh Saz Nik (MASN), which is formerly known as Mahak Rayan Afzar, and individuals Hosein Mohammad Haruni, Alireza Shafie Nasab, Reza Kazemifar Rahman and Komeil Baradaran Salmani.

In conjunction with the sanctions, DOJ unsealed an indictment of the four Iranian nationals, whose targets included the State and Treasury departments, defense contractors and two New York-based companies. With the defendants remaining at large, the State Department is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of the group or the locations of the individuals.