A federal grand jury in Atlanta on Wednesday became the latest to indict two Iranian nationals on charges of creating and deploying the “SamSam” ransomware that attacked vital city computer systems earlier this year in an attempt to extort tens of thousands of dollars from the local government.
The indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, charges Faramarz Savandi and Mohammed Mansouri with intentional damage to Atlanta’s protected computers. The cyberattack is a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and threatened public health and safety, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement.
“In March 2018, a devastating ransomware attack interrupted City of Atlanta government functions and disrupted our community,” U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said in a statement.
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