Federal prosecutors have charged 17 alleged members of an Iran-based hacking organization accused of stealing academic research, intellectual property and proprietary information from hundreds of universities, companies and government agencies worldwide.
A 14-count superseding indictment unsealed in federal court alleges the Mabna Institute conducted an extensive hacking-for-hire operation beginning in approximately 2013. Prosecutors said the organization worked for Iranian government agencies, universities and private clients, including conducting a university spearphishing campaign for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Nine defendants were previously charged in 2018. The superseding indictment adds eight defendants and details what prosecutors described as a broader network behind the cyberattacks.
According to the indictment, Mabna Institute hackers targeted more than 100,000 professor accounts and successfully compromised approximately 8,000 email accounts. Victims included 144 American universities and 178 universities in more than 20 other countries.
The defendants allegedly stole at least 31.5 terabytes of academic information, including research, journals, theses, dissertations and electronic books covering science, engineering, medicine, social sciences and other disciplines. Prosecutors said the American universities had spent approximately $3.4 billion obtaining or accessing the targeted material.
The stolen information was allegedly transferred to servers outside the United States and sold through two Iranian websites, Megapaper.ir and Gigapaper.ir. Customers could purchase stolen academic materials or use compromised professor accounts to enter university library systems, according to prosecutors.
The alleged campaign also extended beyond higher education. Prosecutors said the defendants compromised employee email accounts at 42 American companies, at least 11 foreign companies, five federal and state government agencies and two nongovernmental organizations.
Reported victims included the U.S. Department of Labor, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Hawaii, Indiana, the United Nations and UNICEF.
Several defendants were also allegedly involved in the 2017 breach of HBO. Prosecutors said the hackers stole proprietary information and attempted to extort the company for approximately $6 million in Bitcoin.
Other attacks against private companies and government organizations caused more than $20 million in investigation and remediation expenses, according to the indictment.
The defendants face charges including conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. Maximum penalties range from five to 20 years in prison, while aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year sentence. Any sentence would be determined by a federal judge following a conviction.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the location of five defendants: Behzad Mesri, Mojtaba Galekuhi, Arman Kahzadian, Keyvan Fayaz and Saber Shahbazi Ballojeh.
The case is being prosecuted in the Southern District of New York with assistance from the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The FBI conducted the investigation with assistance from the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and other federal offices.
The charges are allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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