ASSISTANT AG CARLIN'S REMARKS ON IRANIANS CHARGED FOR U.S. CYBER ATTACKS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin Delivers Remarks at Press Conference Announcing Seven Iranians Charged for Conducting Cyber Attacks against U.S. Financial Sector

Washington, DCUnited States ~ Thursday, March 24, 2016

Good morning.  And thank you, Preet – this case would not have been possible without the hard work of the men and women of your office and our partners at the FBI.  I also want to thank the men and women of the National Security Division for their work on this case and for their efforts to protect our country from all manner of national security threats.

In addition, we thank all of the victims for their critical assistance during the investigation.  This case demonstrates the power of public-private partnerships in holding accountable cyber actors who threaten our national security.

For many years, nation states and their affiliates enjoyed what they perceived to be a cloak of anonymity.  A cloak they hid behind to break our laws through cyber intrusions and to threaten our security and economic well-being.

They had this perceived cloak because they thought we couldn’t figure out who did it and, if we did figure it out, we would keep it a secret.

They are wrong.  In a new approach, we have unleashed prosecutors and FBI agents against national security cyber threats, and that is why, two years ago – from this very podium – we could announce an indictment against five members of the People's Liberation Army.

Today, let this indictment reinforce that the days of perceived anonymity are gone – we can remove the cloak.

And we will.

Today’s announcement proves, once again, there is no free pass for nation state affiliated computer intrusions.

This week is significant – a landmark for our national security cyber program.  On Tuesday, we unsealed a complaint against members of the Syrian Electronic Army.  Yesterday, a Chinese businessman in Los Angeles pled guilty for conspiring to hack into U.S. defense contractors and to steal sensitive information related to fighter jets.

And now, today, we can tell the world that hackers affiliated with the Iranian government attacked U.S. systems, and we seek to bring them to justice for their crimes.

No matter where a hacker is located or who he is affiliated with – China or North Korea, ISIL or SEA – we can figure who did it, by name and face, we can do so publicly and we can impose consequences.

This is still the beginning.  We will continue to pursue hackers affiliated with nation states or terrorist organizations.  And when we find you, we will use every available tool at our disposal to hold you accountable.

That means more public actions, more charges, more arrests and more sanctions, until the conduct changes.  

Thank you.

ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER ON SAUDI AMBASSADOR ASSASINATION PLOT

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

Attorney General Holder Holds National Security Enforcement Press Conference
Washington, D.C. ~ Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Good afternoon.



Today, the Department of Justice is announcing charges against two people who allegedly attempted to carry out a deadly plot that was directed by factions of the Iranian government to assassinate a foreign ambassador here in the United States.



Manssor Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen who holds an Iranian passport and was arrested last month in New York, is accused of working with members of an arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to devise an international murder-for-hire scheme targeting the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States.



According to the complaint filed today in the Southern District of New York, Arbabsiar is alleged to have orchestrated a $1.5 million assassination plot with Gholam Shakuri, an Iranian-based member of the Qods Force, and other Iranian co-conspirators.



The Qods Force is a unit of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It is also suspected of sponsoring attacks against the Coalition Forces in Iraq and was designated by the Department of Treasury in 2007 for providing material support to the Taliban and other terrorist organizations.



The complaint alleges that this conspiracy was conceived, sponsored and directed from Iran and constitutes a flagrant violation of U.S. and international law, including a convention that explicitly protects diplomats from being harmed. In addition to holding these individual conspirators accountable for their alleged role in this plot, the United States is committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions.



Arbabsiar and Shakuri are charged with conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism, among other charges. Arbabsiar has been in custody since September 29, 2011, while Shakuri – based in Iran – remains at large.



According to the complaint, earlier this spring Arbabsiar met with a confidential informant from the Drug Enforcement Administration who was posing as an associate of a violent international drug trafficking cartel.



The meeting, which took place in May in Mexico, was the first of a series that would result in an international conspiracy by elements of the Iranian government to pay the informant $1.5 million to murder the Ambassador on U.S. soil, according to documents we filed today in court.



According to the complaint, those discussions led Arbabsiar - with Shakuri’s approval - to facilitate the wiring of approximately $100,000 into a bank account in the United States as a down payment for the attempted assassination.



The complaint also states that in the days since the defendant’s arrest, he has confessed to his participation in the alleged plot as well as provided other valuable information about elements of the Iranian government’s role in it.



The disruption of this alleged plot marks a significant achievement by our law enforcement and intelligence agencies as well as the close cooperation of our partners in the Mexican government.



I want to commend the outstanding work of the agencies involved in this investigation, including the FBI and Director Mueller, who is here with me today, and the DEA.



Their agents and analysts worked closely with prosecutors here at the Department’s National Security Division as well as in the Southern District of New York over these many months to monitor this alleged conspiracy, obtain valuable information and bring one of the primary plotters to justice. Thank you for your remarkable work.



Now, I’d like to turn it over to Director Mueller.