Feds: Iranian Hackers Tried to Sow Discord in the United States
The U.S. has indicted three alleged Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members for hacking U.S. officials, journalists and others. The three remain at large, but you can turn them in for rewards. Photos provided by the FBI.
Iranian citizens Masoud Jalili, 36, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, 34, and Yaser Balaghi, 37, acted on behalf of Iran to “stoke discord, erode confidence in the U.S. electoral process and unlawfully acquire information relating to current and former U.S. officials,” according to a statement by the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs. The Justice Department said the hacks were part of an ongoing effort to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was the former commander of the Quds Force, an elite organization within the IRGC.
The U. S. has designated the IRGC a “foreign terrorist organization” since April 2019.
Hacks Started in 2020
The hacking campaign of Jalili, Aghamiri and Balaghi started in January 2020, following the U. S. killing of Soleimani, prosecutors say.
The indictment described these three men as “skilled computer hackers” with years of experience in this field.
Prosecutors said Jalili, Aghamiri and Balaghi also launched a years-long campaign to target the email accounts of current and former government officials, including those who worked for the White House, Justice Department, Pentagon and the CIA, among others.
They then sought to leak the information they found to promote disagreements against competing groups– for instance, leaking internal Republican campaign information to Democrats.
In May 2024, the hackers accessed President Donald Trump’s campaign non-public documents and e-mails. One month later, they tried to leak the information to the media and Democrats.
The FBI also shared a public statement about this matter:
“Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails. There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied. Furthermore, since June, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations” with a guide on reporting similar activities.
Rewards for Justice Program
The U.S. State Department operates a Rewards for Justice program, which pays large rewards in exchange for information leading to the capture of these and other wanted individuals.
People with information on any of the three alleged cybercriminals can earn up to $10 million.
‘Direct Assault on the Integrity of Our Democratic Processes’
“These hack-and-leak efforts by Iran are a direct assault on the integrity of our democratic processes,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Iranian government actors have long sought to use cyber-enabled means to harm U.S. interests. This case demonstrates our commitment to expose attempts by the Iranian regime or any other foreign actor to interfere with our free and open society.”
“This indictment alleges a serious and sustained effort by a state-sponsored terrorist organization to gather intelligence through hacking personal accounts so they can use the hacked materials to harm Americans and corruptly influence our election,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves for the District of Columbia. “The detailed allegations in the indictment should make clear to anyone who might attempt to do the same that the Justice Department can gather evidence of such crimes from around the globe, will charge those who commit such crimes, and will do whatever we can to bring those charged to justice.”
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