WASHINGTON – The United States Department of Justice announced on September 27, 2024 the indictment of three Iranian nationals. The three are accused of conspiring to hack into accounts of current and former U.S. officials, members of the press, nongovernmental organizations and people associated with U.S. political campaigns.
Masoud Jalili, 36, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, 34, and Yaser Balaghi, 37, have been charged with:
- Conspiracy to Obtain Information from a Protected Computer; Defraud and Obtain a Thing of Value; Commit Fraud Involving Authentication Features; Commit Aggravated Identity Theft; Commit Access Device Fraud; and Commit Wire Fraud While Falsely Registering Domains
- Material Support to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization
- Wire Fraud
- Aggravated Identity Theft
- Aiding and Abetting
According to the 37 page indictment, beginning on or around January 2020 through September 2024, computer hackers employed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including people who were not identified by the Grand Jury, prepared for and carried out a broad hacking campaign that used spearphishing and social engineering methods to compromise accounts.
The indictment states that around May 2024, the conspirators gained unauthorized access to personal accounts belonging to “an identified U.S. presidential campaign (Presidential campaign one).” They used their access to those accounts to steal non-public campaign documents and emails. This activity broadened in June 2024, when the conspirators began to leak stolen materials to members of the press and people associated with another “identified U.S. presidential campaign” (Presidential campaign two) in an effort to undermine U.S. presidential campaign one before the 2024 election.
“The Justice Department is working relentlessly to uncover and counter Iran’s cyberattacks aimed at stoking discord, undermining confidence in our democratic institutions, and influencing our elections,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The American people – not Iran, or any other foreign power – will decide the outcome of our country’s elections.”
“Today’s charges represent the culmination of a thorough and long-running FBI investigation that has resulted in the indictment of three Iranian nationals for their roles in a wide-ranging hacking campaign sponsored by the Government of Iran,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The conduct laid out in the indictment is just the latest example of Iran’s brazen behavior. So today the FBI would like to send a message to the Government of Iran – you and your hackers can’t hide behind your keyboards.”
“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 has the ability to 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.”
Persons accused of crimes are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.