Three Iranian nationals accused of ransomware attacks against hundreds of U.S. victims

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department connected Thursday unsealed an August indictment of 3 Iranian nationals who officials said are down an planetary ransomware conspiracy that has targeted hundreds of firm and authorities victims astir the world. 

The 3 individuals allegedly carried retired the strategy for their idiosyncratic gain, and not astatine the behest of the Iranian government, section officials said connected a telephone with reporters. 

The defendants are Mansour Ahmadi, Ahmad Khatibi Aghda and Amir Hossein Nickaein Ravari, each believed to beryllium surviving successful Iran.  None of them has been arrested, and officials admitted that U.S. instrumentality enforcement has fewer options disposable to detain them successful person.

The men allegedly defrauded a region successful Wyoming,  determination electrical powerfulness utilities successful Mississippi and Indiana, a nationalist lodging authorization successful Washington authorities and a statewide Bar Association successful an unnamed U.S. state. 

DOJ officials said they believed the fig of victims successful America unsocial reached good into the hundreds, with adjacent much apt to beryllium identified successful the future. 

The strategy relied upon Bitlocker, a fashionable cybersecurity encryption merchandise from Microsoft which is utilized by thousands of clients worldwide. 

Justice Department officials declined to item however they were alerted to the idiosyncratic ransomware attacks, oregon specifically which of the organizations that were targeted reached retired to authorities and which did not. 

It's small concealed that corporations targeted by ransomware attacks often take to wage the ransom to the attackers alternatively of alerting instrumentality enforcement retired of fearfulness that quality of the onslaught volition spook investors and customers.  

The Justice Department has struggled for decades to person organization victims of cyber attacks that they volition beryllium amended served by reporting the onslaught than by covering it up.