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Reward Money for Information on Iranian Government Hackers
“Time to avenge” the activities of a hacking group directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber-Electronic Command, the IRGC-CEC. So posted the U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program on the social media platform X.
The CyberAv3ngers hacking group, which is unit of the IRGC-CEC, has hacked into Israeli-made industrial control systems used by U.S. water and wastewater facilities and other U.S. critical infrastructure sectors.
Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million and possible relocation for information leading to the identification or location of six Iranians connected to the hacking: Hamid Reza Lashgarian, head of the IRGC-CEC, as well as five senior officials – Hamid Homayunfal, Mahdi Lashgarian, Milad Mansuri, Mohammad Bagher Shirinkar, and Reza Mohammad Amin Saberian.
In February, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against these individuals and named them Specially Designated Nationals for being leaders or officials of the IRGC-CEC. Then-Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson wrote, “The deliberate targeting of critical infrastructure by Iranian cyber actors is an unconscionable and dangerous act. The United States will not tolerate such actions and will use the full range of our tools and authorities to hold the perpetrators to account.”
As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of these IRGC-CEC officials that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked, and business transactions between the designated individuals and U.S. citizens are prohibited.
The up-to-10-million-dollar reward offer for information leading to the identification and location of these designated hackers is another tool of the U.S. Government aimed at stopping their malicious activity.
As the Rewards for Justice announcement says, “Anyone with information on CyberAv3ngers malicious cyber activity, associated individuals, or entities should contact Rewards for Justice via the Tor-based tips-reporting channel,” available on the Rewards for Justice website: rewardsforjustice.net/rewards/cyberav3ngers