The U.S. Department of Justice has charged 17 hackers allegedly tied to Iran’s Mabna Institute, according to Decrypt, accusing them of taking part in a multi-year cyber campaign that included the 2017 breach of U.S. cable network HBO. Prosecutors said the group stole data and then demanded roughly $6 million in Bitcoin as ransom.
The indictment says the alleged operation worked on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian government clients. Targets allegedly included hundreds of universities, companies, and government institutions around the world. Prosecutors said the campaign led to the theft of at least 31.5 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property.
Authorities also said the group targeted more than 100,000 professor accounts globally and compromised about 8,000 accounts across 144 U.S. universities and 178 foreign universities. The U.S. State Department is offering up to $10 million for information on the whereabouts of five of the defendants. The report also said the Treasury Department in recent months sanctioned multiple Iranian crypto exchanges and froze more than $131 million in crypto assets linked to Iran’s central bank and the IRGC.
According to Decrypt, the U.S. Department of Justice has charged 17 hackers allegedly affiliated with Iran’s Mabna Institute over a cyber campaign that prosecutors said ran for years.
The case includes the 2017 breach of U.S. cable network HBO. Prosecutors said the attackers stole data and later demanded about $6 million in Bitcoin as ransom.
Authorities said the group carried out hacking operations for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian government clients. The alleged targets included hundreds of universities, companies, and government institutions worldwide, with at least 31.5 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property said to have been stolen.
Prosecutors also said the group targeted more than 100,000 professor accounts globally and compromised about 8,000 accounts spanning 144 U.S. universities and 178 foreign universities.
The U.S. State Department is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the location of five of the defendants.
The report added that the U.S. Treasury Department in recent months has sanctioned multiple Iranian crypto exchanges and frozen more than $131 million in crypto assets linked to Iran’s central bank and the IRGC.
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