The U.S. government announced criminal charges and sanctions against four Iranians over an alleged multi-year cyber campaign targeting more than one dozen American companies, the Treasury Department and the State Department said.
Sanctions were also announced against two companies, Mehrsam Andisheh Saz Nik and Dadeh Afzar Arman, that according to the Treasury Department employed the individual defendants and were front companies for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard cyber command.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said the corporate targets were primarily defense contractors that had access to classified information, while other targets included a New York-based accounting firm and New York-based hospitality company.
Prosecutors said the defendants infected computers with malware by using spearfishing, which involves tricking email recipients into clicking malicious links, and impersonating women to gain people’s confidence.
