US Offers $10 Million Reward For 2 Iranians Over Election Meddling
The United States has offered up to $10 million for information on two Iranian cyber actors for trying to influence and interfere with the 2020 presidential election.
The United States has offered up to $10 million for information on two Iranian cyber actors for trying to influence and interfere with the 2020 presidential election.
The State Department’s Reward for Justice Program said in a statement on Tuesday that Mohammad-Hosein Musa-Kazemi and Sajjad Kashian sought to sow discord and undermine voters’ faith in the US electoral process.
The two contractors employed by Iranian cyber company Emennet Pasargad (formerly known as Eeleyanet Gostar) “participated in an Iranian state-sponsored, multi-phased online operation that attempted to interfere with the 2020 US presidential election” from at least August through November 2020, read the statement.
Kashian managed computer network infrastructure while Kazemi helped to carry out the campaign by compromising servers that were used to send the threatening voter emails, preparing emails for the voter threat email campaign, and compromising the email accounts of an American media company.
The cyber company provides cyber capabilities and support to Iran’s Intelligence Ministry Security as well as to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the IRGC-Qods Force – both of which are designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Both hackers face sanctions and federal criminal charges in connection with their activities, the statement added.
