The US State Department is offering a $10 million reward for information about the activities of two Iranian nationals accused of online activity aimed at "intimidating and influencing" American voters during the 2020 US presidential campaign.
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An indictment unsealed today by the Department of Justice alleges that between September and November 2020, 24-year-old Seyyed Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi and 27-year-old Sajjad Kashian obtained information on more than 100,000 American voters and used it “to sow discord among Americans.”
The two suspects attempted to hack into about a dozen state voter websites and found a misconfigured computer that gave them access to voter information in one state.
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They used the data to distribute false information via Facebook and email about the Democratic Party planning to interfere in the election by exploiting vulnerabilities in voter registration websites and modifying mail-in ballots.
In October, Kazemi and Kashian sent emails claiming to be from the Proud Boys threatening thousands of registered voters with physical harm unless they voted for Donald Trump.
The DoJ says the two suspects “are experienced Iranian hackers.” They worked as contractors for a company (now known as Emennet Pasargad) that provided cybersecurity services for the Iranian government.
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For their activity, Kazemi and Kashian received the following charges:
- conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, voter intimidation, and transmitting threats (Kazemi and Kashian)
- charge of voter intimidation (Kazemi and Kashian)
- charge of transnational threats (Kazemi and Kashian)
- category of unauthorized computer intrusion (Kazemi)
- computer fraud category (Kazemi)
Along with the charges, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Kazemi and Kashian, and four other Iranian nationals, members of the leadership of Emennet Pasargad.
In addition, the State Department's Rewards for Justice Program is offering a huge reward for details about Kazemi and Kashian's activities: up to $10 million for each.
Information source: bleepingcomputer.com
