It has been announced that six Iranian officials have been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Iranian government organization responsible for the series of malicious cyber activities directed against critical infrastructure in the U.S. and other countries.
IRGC-affiliated cyber actors have been involved in recent cyber operations where they hacked and posted images on the screens of programmable logic controllers manufactured by Unitronics, an Israeli company.
U.S. authorities are acting against these individuals in response to these recent cyber operations.
The control devices in water and other critical infrastructure systems, such as PLCs, are sensitive targets.
Even though no critical services have been disrupted during this operation, unauthorized access to critical infrastructure systems can enable actions that are harmful to the public and can have devastating humanitarian effects.
According to an official statement released by the US Department of Treasury, officials with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for cyber attacks against critical infrastructure have been sanctioned.
As a result of recent actions taken by actors affiliated with the IRGC involving the hacking of technology manufactured by the Israeli company Unitronics in water and wastewater facilities, this action has been taken to address the issue.
In a cyber attack against the municipal water system of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, as well as other water systems throughout the country, a group called CyberAv3ngers, affiliated with the IRGC, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Several critical services were not disrupted, and the U.S. coordinated with the private sector and other affected countries to resolve the incidents.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officials responsible for cyber attacks against critical infrastructure have been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for their role in the attacks.
A spokesperson for the Treasury Department for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson, in his statement, described the intentional targeting of critical infrastructure as an unacceptable, dangerous, and unconscionable act.
The six sanctioned individuals were all designated as leaders of the Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber-Electronic Command, IRGC-CEC, and as officials of the command.
American companies and individuals are prohibited from trading with the six individuals and companies sanctioned.
In this regard, CISA considers that a few nations pose a threat because of their sophisticated malicious cyber activity intended to sustain prolonged system intrusions, including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
A cyber attack on critical targets such as the water, transportation and energy sectors was accused by U.S. authorities just last week, which was linked to hacker networks linked to the Chinese Government.
It is reported that OFAC has added 6 individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals list.
According to the statement, Hamid Reza Lashgarian is the director of the IRGC's Cyber and Intelligence Center, a commander in the IRGC's Quds Force, and he has been involved in several IRGC operations related to cyber and intelligence.
In addition to Hamid Reza Lashgarian, the deputy commander of the IRGC-CEC, he is also supported by senior officials Hamid Reza Lashgarian, Mahdi Lashgarian, Hamid Homayunfal, Milad Mansuri, Mohammad Bagher Shirinkar, and Reza Mohammad Amin Saberian.
It is now illegal for these designated individuals to own assets in the US and you must stop all transactions that involve property in this country involving any assets owned by these individuals.
Financial institutions and individuals responsible for transacting with sanctioned entities and individuals may face criminal prosecution if they are found to have engaged in such transactions or activities.
This Cyber News was published on www.cysecurity.news. Publication date: Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:43:04 +0000