On Tuesday, May 27, an Iranian national pled guilty to participating in an international ransomware and extortion scheme that affected U.S. cities including the City of Greenville that began in January 2019.
According to the Department of Justice, Sina Gholinejad, 37, pled guilty to one count of computer fraud and abuse and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.
Gholinejad, 37, and his co-conspirators compromised the computer networks of several cities, corporations, and other entities around the United States, with the Robbinhood ransomware variant that encrypted files on these victim networks in order to extort ransom payments, according to the Department of Justice.
Officials say these attacks disrupted several essential city services that lasted many months and caused tens of millions in losses.
Gholinejad and his co-conspirators — all of whom were overseas — caused tens of millions of dollars in losses and disrupted essential public services by deploying the Robbinhood ransomware against U. S. cities, health care organizations, and businesses,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The ransomware attack against the City of Baltimore forced the city to take hundreds of computers offline and prevented the city from performing basic functions for months. Gholinejad’s conviction reflects the Criminal Division’s commitment to bringing cybercriminals who target our cities, healthcare system, and businesses to justice no matter where they are located. There will be no impunity for these destructive attacks.
The City of Baltimore, Maryland, incurred over $19 million in damages to its computer networks over this attack.
You can find additional details on protecting networks against ransomware at StopRansomware. gov.
