Iranians Hacked Into A U.S. Dam's Water Control System And Some Banks

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Seven Iranians allegedly ran a multi-year cyber-attack targeting 46 U.S. financial institutions and a dam based in New York, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

From December 2011 to May 2013, the alleged hackers — who worked for two separate security companies — ran sporadic DDoS attacks designed to overwhelm and disable company servers, according to the indictment. The computer servers of the financial institutions were hit with as much as 140 gigabits of data per second during some attacks.

In addition to the bank hacks, one of the individuals charged, Hamid Firoozi, allegedly hacked into the system of the Bowman Dam in Rye, New York, giving him the ability to control water flow.

While Firoozi inflicted no damage with the dam hack, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara said, “the potential havoc...is scary to think about.”

Th hackers cost companies “tens of millions of dollars,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said at a news conference.

Asked they would be extradited, Lynch said, “Our view is that fugitives don’t remain that way forever.”

“Because they’re not here now does not mean that we’ll never get them,” she said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.

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