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Reward for Information on Iranian Cyber Actors' Election Interference
Through its Rewards for Justice Program, the U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information about any person, acting at the direction of a foreign government, who, while acting at the direction of or under the control of a foreign government, interferes with U.S. elections by violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
The State Department is looking for information on two Iranian cyber actors employed by the Iranian cyber company Emennet Pasargad, which provides cyber capabilities and support to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCC) and the IRGC-Qods Force, two U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
From at least August through November 2020, Seyyed Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi and Sajjad Kashian participated in an Iranian state-sponsored multi-phased operation targeting the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Kazemi helped carry out the voter intimidation and influence campaign by compromising servers used to send threatening voter emails, preparing emails for the voter threat email campaign, and compromising the email accounts of an American media company.
Among other activities, Kashian managed computer network infrastructure that was used to carry out the voter intimidation and influence campaign and sought to purchase social media accounts to further that campaign.
In November 2021, the United States designated these individuals and their employer Emennet Pasargad under Executive Order 13848. The two men face sanctions and federal criminal charges in connection with their activities.
Since its inception in 1984, the Rewards for Justice program, which is administered by the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, has paid in excess of $200 million to more than 100 people across the globe who provided actionable information that helped prevent terrorism, bring terrorist leaders to justice, and resolve threats to U.S. national security.
If you have information on Seyyed Kazemi or Sajjad Kashian’s malicious cyberactivity, please contact the Rewards for Justice Program through its website at www.rewardsforjustice.net.
All information will be kept strictly confidential.
Anncr: That was an international public service announcement by the United States Government.