(Bloomberg) -- Hackers linked to the Iranian government launched cyber-attacks on some four dozen U.S. financial institutions and a flood-control dam above of New York City in forays meant to undermine U.S. markets and national security, according to federal prosecutors.

Beginning in 2011, Iran-based hackers targeted the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and AT&T Inc., among others, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court. One of them gained unauthorized remote access to a computer controlling the Bowman Avenue Dam in Rye, New York, for about three weeks beginning in 2013, according to the indictment.

The hackers were working on behalf of the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a hard-line force in Iran, Attorney General Loretta Lynch told reporters in Washington. The hacking of the dam could have caused great damage if the facility hadn’t been shut down for maintenance, she said.

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