US unseals new charges against 17 hackers in Iran-backed campaign

The US Justice Department has unsealed updated charges against 17 individuals accused of working with the Mabna Institute, an Iranian company allegedly conducting cyberattacks and data theft on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other government clients. The campaign targeted hundreds of US and international universities, dozens of US companies, and at least five US state and federal government agencies.

These new charges reveal a "broader network" behind a "sweeping, state-sponsored campaign" aimed at stealing research and intellectual property from American institutions, according to US Attorney Jamie McDonald. A previous indictment in March 2018 had already charged nine of these individuals for a hacking campaign targeting entities like the US Labor Department and the United Nations.

The Mabna Institute allegedly targeted over 100,000 professor accounts globally since at least 2013 through 2017. The operation successfully breached approximately 8,000 professor email accounts across 144 US universities and 178 universities in other countries.

In parallel, the US State Department's Rewards for Justice program announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the location of several of the individuals included in the latest charges, underscoring the US government's efforts to pursue those involved in the alleged cyber espionage campaign.

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the broader network allegedly behind a sweeping, state-sponsored campaign to steal research and intellectual property from American universities, businesses, and government institutions