The U.S. Offers Up to $10 Million for Information on Alireza Shafiei Nasab

The U.S. Department of State has set a reward of up to $10 million under the 'Rewards for Justice' program for individuals who have information regarding the 'cyber destructive activities' of Alireza Shafiei Nasab. The 'Rewards for Justice' program is designed to provide rewards for information leading to the 'identification or location of individuals acting under the control and direction of foreign governments who engage in cyber destructive activities against critical U.S. infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).' According to a recent announcement from the U.S. government, 'Alireza Shafiei Nasab' is wanted for 'participating in a multi-year organized campaign to conduct cyber intrusions into 12 American companies and also attempting to infiltrate the systems of the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury.' Shafiei Nasab, a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was employed by the Iranian company 'Mahak Rayan Afraz' from approximately 2016 to April 2021, which 'operated on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).' The announcement emphasized that 'the IRGC has been designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization and is listed among internationally recognized terrorist groups.' The 'Rewards for Justice' program has provided contact details and a phone number, stating that if individuals have information about Alireza Shafiei Nasab's cyber destructive activities, they should contact the program through a TOR browser-based communication channel. In the summer of 2021, Facebook announced that it had blocked around 200 fake accounts, stating that Iranian hackers had created personas on the social network to trap Americans active in the defense and aerospace industries. The identity of the hackers was not disclosed in Facebook's statement, but it emphasized that part of the malware used by them was designed by 'Mahak Rayan Afraz,' which is linked to the IRGC, and several of its current and former managers are associated with companies under U.S. sanctions. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Pentagon, at that time responded to a question from the Persian section of Voice of America regarding Facebook's report on Iranian hackers attempting to steal information from military personnel, stating that all necessary training is provided to staff to protect their sensitive and personal information. The Pentagon stated in writing to the Persian section of Voice of America that the threat posed by communications on social networks is not limited to any specific social network, and U.S. Department of Defense personnel must be cautious about their online communications. All personnel of the U.S. Department of Defense participate annually in cyber awareness training that covers threats from online activities that could lead to traps for information theft and social engineering by malicious cyber actors.