The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed new and updated charges on Tuesday against 17 individuals allegedly linked to an Iranian company accused of conducting cyberattacks. Federal prosecutors claim the group targeted U.S. universities, private companies, and government agencies to steal research and intellectual property.
The defendants are accused of working with the Mabna Institute, an organization the DOJ alleges carried out hacking campaigns on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian government and university clients. Nine of the 17 individuals were previously indicted in March 2018 for a campaign that targeted the U.S. Labor Department, the United Nations, and state networks in Hawaii and Indiana.
According to the DOJ statement, the Mabna Institute targeted more than 100,000 accounts belonging to professors worldwide between 2013 and 2017. The department reported that the group successfully penetrated approximately 8,000 email accounts across 144 U.S.-based universities and 178 international universities. Additionally, the campaign allegedly targeted dozens of U.S. companies and at least five state and federal government agencies.
The scale of the alleged operation involves the targeting of over 100,000 individual accounts over a four-year period, resulting in a breach rate of approximately 8% for the specific subset of professor accounts mentioned. To assist in the apprehension of the suspects, the U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced a $10 million reward on Tuesday for information leading to the location of several individuals named in the charges. This financial incentive indicates the high priority federal authorities have placed on disrupting this specific network.
What happens next is largely dependent on the location and extradition of the 17 defendants. Iranian government representatives at the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the allegations, and contact information for the Mabna Institute was not available. While the charges have been unsealed, the DOJ has not provided specific trial dates or further deadlines for the legal proceedings. The $10 million reward remains active for those with information on the suspects' locations.