The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned 10 individuals and two entities for their roles in ransomware activity, cyber-espionage and other cybercrimes.
The named parties are affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to a Wednesday (Sept. 14) press release. The Treasury Department provided details about these newly sanctioned individuals and entities in a Specially Designated Nationals List Update dated Sept. 14.
“Ransomware actors and other cybercriminals, regardless of their national origin or base of operations, have targeted businesses and critical infrastructure across the board — directly threatening the physical security and economy of the United States and other nations,” Brian E. Nelson, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the release. “We will continue to take coordination action with our global partners to combat and deter ransomware threats, including those associated with the IRGC.”
Among the activities attributed to individuals and entities sanctioned by this order are ransomware activities, unauthorized computer access and data exfiltration, according to the release.
Their ransomware activities reportedly targeted organizations and officials around the globe, including a New Jersey municipality, several small businesses, a children’s hospital, several larger organizations and an electric utility company.
Reported ransomware payments in the U.S. topped $590 million in 2021 — up from $416 million the previous year — and the government estimates the true costs of ransomware activities is far higher, the release stated.
These sanctions come about a month after the OFAC sanctioned what it called the “notorious virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash.”
Read more: With Tornado Cash Sanctions, Feds Seek to Lift Crypto’s Veil of Anonymity
In that case, OFAC sanctioned Tornado Cash to settle assertions that it played a role in laundering more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since its creation in 2019, including more than $455 million stolen by a North Korea-sponsored hacking group that was sanctioned by the U.S. that same year.
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