OFAC Sanctions 7 New Bitcoin Addresses Allegedly Associated With Iran-Related Ransomware Activities – Following the Treasury’s Office watchdog OFAC ban on the ethereum mixer Tornado Cash, OFAC published a new SDN List update on September 14, 2022. The updated SDN List includes two specific companies and ten individuals accused of participating in and financing Iran-based ransomware schemes.
OFAC has previously accused North Korean syndicates such as the infamous Lazarus Group of engaging in ransomware activities. “This IRGC-affiliated group is known to exploit software vulnerabilities to carry out their ransomware activities, as well as involvement in unauthorized computer access, data exfiltration, and other malicious cyber activities,” according to OFAC’s SDN List announcement on Wednesday.
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Aside from the ten individuals and two companies mentioned, approximately seven BTC addresses are also mentioned. Some of the OFAC-listed addresses have never received a single BTC deposit. Other addresses have received BTC, including this one, which is allegedly linked to an Iranian named Ahmad Khatibi Aghada, as it once held 0.2931 BTC.
OFAC Sanctions 7 New Bitcoin Addresses Allegedly Associated With Iran-Related Ransomware Activities – The SDN update on September 14 is not the only one that lists “cyber-related designations, and Iran-related designations in the last two weeks.” On September 2, OFAC issued an amendment to cyber-related designations, and on September 8 and 9, 2022, it issued two “Iran-related designations.” The Wednesday update is the only “Iran-related designations” update with newly added BTC addresses.
