US unveils new sanctions against 2 companies, 4 individuals in Iran for ‘malicious cyber activity’

The US ramps up its sanctions against Iran, designating four people and two companies it says were “involved in malicious cyber activity” on behalf of the country’s military.

“These actors targeted more than a dozen US companies and government entities through cyber operations, including spear phishing and malware attacks,” the US Treasury Department says in a statement.

The individuals and companies were working “on behalf of” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC), the Treasury says.

“Iranian malicious cyber actors continue to target US companies and government entities in a coordinated, multi-pronged campaign intended to destabilize our critical infrastructure and cause harm to our citizens,” the Treasury’s under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Brian Nelson says in a statement.

“The United States will continue to leverage our whole-of-government approach to expose and disrupt these networks’ operations,” he adds.

Tuesday’s sanctions are the latest to be levied against Tehran by the US and its allies both for its unprecedented attack on Israel earlier this month and for giving backing to anti-Israel proxies across the Middle East, as well as for providing military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Last week, the US and Britain announced widespread sanctions against Iran’s military drone program in response to Tehran’s large-scale attack on Israel.

Alongside the new sanctions, the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has indicted the four individuals in question, “for their roles in cyber activity targeting US entities,” the Treasury Department says.