Hooman Heidarian, 30, and Mehdi Farhadi, 34, both of Hamedan, Iran, were accused Wednesday of stealing and selling hundreds of terabytes of data, including some national security intelligence, nuclear information, intellectual property and personal financial information, the Justice Department alleged in a charging announcement.
"We will not bring the rule of law to cyberspace until governments refuse to provide safe harbor for criminal hacking within their borders," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, our cases demonstrate that at least four nations — Iran, China, Russia and North Korea
...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...— will allow criminal hackers to victimize individuals and companies from around the world, as long as these hackers will also work for that country’s government — gathering information on human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
activists, dissidents and others of intelligence interest. Today’s defendants will now learn that such service to the Iranian regime is not an asset, but a criminal yoke that they will now carry until the day they are brought to justice."
The men are on the lam, believed to be in Iran, and are wanted by the FBI.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department also unsealed charges against five Chinese nationals for their alleged hacking of over 100 companies in the US and overseas, including social media companies, universities, nonprofit organizations and think tanks, as well as activists and politicians in Hong Kong.
In its announcement, the department said the five Chinese citizens were on the lam in China.