Justice Department indicts two Iranians over SamSam ransomware attacks

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/28/justice-department-indicts-two-iranians-over-samsam-ransomware-attacks/

By Zack Whittaker
TechCrunch
11/28/2018

U.S. federal prosecutors have indicted two Iranian nationals for creating 
and deploying the notorious SamSam ransomware.

Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27, were 
indicted by a federal grand jury in New Jersey on Monday on several counts 
of computer hacking and fraud charges. The case was unsealed Wednesday, 
shortly before a press conference announcing the charges by U.S. deputy 
attorney general Rod Rosenstein.

"The Iranian defendants allegedly used hacking and malware to cause more 
than $30 million in losses to more than 200 victims," said Rosenstein. 
"According to the indictment, the hackers infiltrated computer systems in 
ten states and Canada and then demanded payment. The criminal activity 
harmed state agencies, city governments, hospitals, and countless innocent 
victims."

Among those victims included the City of Atlanta, which was knocked 
offline earlier this year, and projected to spend at least $2.6 million in 
recovery following a SamSam infection. It was later discovered that the 
city's computers had long been vulnerable to leaked exploits developed by 
the National Security Agency -- later stolen and leaked online for anyone 
to use.

[...]



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