Security News > 2020 > September > U.S. Charges Hackers for Defacing Sites in Response to Killing of Qasem Soleimani
The United States on Tuesday announced charges against two men from Iran and Palestine accused of defacing websites in response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani.
The two are said to have defaced tens of websites hosted in the United States as part of a retaliation campaign over the killing of Soleimani.
His profile on Zone-H, a service that allows hackers to keep track of the websites they deface, shows that he targeted 1,279 sites as of September 8.
"The hackers victimized innocent third parties in a campaign to retaliate for the military action that killed Soleimani, a man behind countless acts of terror against Americans and others that the Iranian regime opposed," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.
Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, noted, "These hackers are accused of orchestrating a brazen cyber-assault that defaced scores of websites across the country as a way of protesting and retaliating against the United States for killing the leader of a foreign terrorist organization. Now, they are wanted by the FBI and are no longer free to travel outside Iran or Palestine without risk of arrest."