Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Archives

U.S. Sanctions North Korean Andariel Hacker Behind Fraudulent IT Worker Scheme

10Jul

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U.S. Sanctions North Korean Andariel Hacker Behind Fraudulent IT Worker Scheme

A member of the North Korean hacker collective Andariel was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday for their involvement in the notorious remote information technology (IT) worker scheme. By utilizing foreign-hired IT professionals to seek remote jobs with U.S. corporations and intending to divide income with them, Song Kum Hyok, a 38-year-old North Korean national with an address in the Chinese province of Jilin, facilitated the fraudulent operation, according to the Treasury. Song is accused of creating aliases for the recruited workers between 2022 and 2023 using the names, residences, and Social Security numbers of U.S. citizens. The employees then used these personas to pretend to be U.S. citizens seeking remote wo...

Iranian and Russian Entities Sanctioned for Election Interference Using AI and Cyber Tactics

2Jan

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Iranian and Russian Entities Sanctioned for Election Interference Using AI and Cyber Tactics

On Tuesday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury Department imposed penalties on two organizations in Russia and Iran for their efforts to tamper with the presidential election scheduled for November 2024. According to the federal agency, the organizations—a Moscow-based affiliate of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and a subordinate group of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—sought to sway the election results and sow discord among Americans by launching focused disinformation campaigns. According to a press release, these individuals, who are affiliated with the IRGC and GRU, sought to influence the American electorate and inflame sociopolitical tensions in the run-up to the 2024 election read more about Iranian and Russian Entities S...

US govt sanctions Iranians linked to government cyberattacks

24Apr

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US govt sanctions Iranians linked to government cyberattacks

Four Iranian nationals have been sanctioned by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for their involvement in cyberattacks against private enterprises, defense contractors, and the U.S. government. Additionally, OFAC declared sanctions against two front companies for the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC), a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces that oversees the nation's cyberwarfare operations: Dadeh Afzar Arman (DAA) and Mehrsam Andisheh Saz Nik (MASN), formerly known as Mahak Rayan Afzar. While working for MASN, two of the sanctioned cybercriminals—Aliereza Shafie Nasab and Reza Kazemifar Rahman—targeted American organizations. Kazemifar also launched spear phishing attacks on the Department of the Treasury. ...

U.S. sanctions Predator spyware operators for spying on Americans

6Mar

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U.S. sanctions Predator spyware operators for spying on Americans

Sanctions have been placed by the United States on two people and five organizations that were involved in the creation and dissemination of the commercial spyware known as Predator, which was used to target Americans, including journalists and public servants. In a press release, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury said, the OFACL designated two individuals and five entities associated with the Intellexa Consortium for their role in developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware technology used to target Americans, including U.S. government officials, journalists, and policy experts." The Israeli founder of Intellexa Consortium, Tal Jonathan Dilian, and the Polish business specialist, Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou, are the targe...