OFAC Sanctions 7 New Bitcoin Addresses Allegedly Associated With Iran-Related Ransomware Activities

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has published a specially designated nationals list update (OFAC’s SDN List) that lists a number of individuals accused of being involved with Iran-related ransomware. The list further shows seven bitcoin addresses that are allegedly associated with the Iranian ransomware gang.

Following the Treasury’s Office watchdog OFAC banning the ethereum mixer Tornado Cash, OFAC published a new SDN List update on September 14, 2022. The SDN List update lists two specific companies and ten people that are accused of participating in and financing Iran-based ransomware schemes.

In the past, OFAC has accused North Korean syndicates like the infamous Lazarus Group of participating in ransomware activities. “This IRGC-affiliated group is known to exploit software vulnerabilities in order to carry out their ransomware activities, as well as engage in unauthorized computer access, data exfiltration, and other malicious cyber activities,” OFAC’s SDN List announcement states on Wednesday.

In addition to the ten individuals and the two companies listed, approximately seven BTC addresses are mentioned as well. Some of the addresses mentioned in the OFAC report have never seen a single BTC deposit. Other addresses have received BTC, like this one, that’s allegedly associated with an Iranian named Ahmad Khatibi Aghada, as the address once held 0.2931 BTC.

The September 14 SDN update is not the only update that lists “cyber-related designations, [and] Iran-related designations during the last two weeks. OFAC published an amendment to cyber-related designations on September 2, and two “Iran-related designations” on September 8 and 9, 2022. The update published on Wednesday is the only “Iran-related designations” update that contains newly added BTC addresses.

What do you think about OFAC adding seven new bitcoin addresses to the SDN List? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.