U.S. Indicts Seven Iranians for Involvement in Cyber Attacks

On Thursday, March 5, the United States indicted seven Iranians for their participation in cyber attacks from 2011 to 2013 against several American banks and a dam in New York. Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney General, stated in a press conference that the sabotage caused by these seven Iranians resulted in tens of millions of dollars in damages to the banks and the dam. She mentioned that the attack on this dam could have posed a clear and immediate threat to Americans. According to Reuters, the indictment by the Department of Justice at its press conference in Washington is one of the high-profile indictments against citizens of a foreign country for cyber attacks. Ms. Lynch said, "These attacks were ruthless, systematic, and widespread. They threatened our economy and our ability to compete fairly in the global market, both of which are directly related to our national security." According to the Associated Press, one of the hackers is accused of repeatedly gaining control of the small "Bowman" dam system located 20 miles north of New York City. By hacking the dam's system, he was able to access necessary information about its operation, including water levels, temperature, and outflow rates. The report adds that the Bowman dam hacker could have controlled the water level and outflow from the dam's sluice gate, but at the time of the attack, the connection between the sluice gate and the system was severed. Images of the seven Iranian hackers who are being pursued by the FBI were also released. These seven Iranians worked for computer companies linked to the Islamic Republic, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Fars News Agency revealed the names of these hackers: Ahmad Fathi, 37, Hamid Firoozi, 34, Amin Shakouhi, 25, Sadegh Ahmadzadegan, 23, Omid Ghafari Nia, 25, Sina Keyser, 25, and Nader Saidi, 26. None of these hackers are in custody, and the U.S. has no extradition treaty with Iran for the accused. However, U.S. officials stated that the purpose of filing such a case is to signal that cyber sabotage will be addressed, even if it occurs on the other side of the world. These attacks, which took place between 2011 and 2013, had 46 victims, mainly in the U.S. financial sector, causing bank websites to go down and resulting in tens of millions of dollars in damages.