US charges 17 Iranian hackers over 31-terabyte academic data theft
US indicts 17 Iranian Mabna Institute hackers who stole 31TB of academic data from universities, companies, and agencies via spearphishing.
The US Department of Justice charged 17 alleged Mabna Institute members, adding eight defendants to the nine charged in 2018, for a 2013-2017 campaign largely conducted for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The group stole over 31TB of academic data and intellectual property from 144 US and 178 foreign universities, at least 42 US companies, and at least five federal and state agencies, compromising about 8,000 of 100,000 spearphished professor email accounts. US universities spent roughly $3.4 billion procuring the stolen data; one defendant also hacked HBO and sought about $6 million in bitcoin ransom. The State Department offers up to $10 million for information on five defendants, none of whom are in US custody.
- Eight new defendants added to the 2018 Mabna Institute indictment
- Spearphishing compromised roughly 8,000 of 100,000 targeted professor accounts
- Two websites resold stolen papers in Iran, one offering live library access
- Victims included the US Department of Labor and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- Defendants face up to 20 years on wire fraud counts alone
- ATT&CK
- T1566 PhishingT1078 Valid AccountsT1213 Data from Information RepositoriesT1657 Financial Theft
- Vendors
- HBO
- Threat actors
- Mabna InstituteIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
- Countries
- United StatesIran
From the original article
2 min read at helpnetsecurity.com
The U. S. has charged 17 alleged members of Mabna Institute, an Iranian hacking-for-hire company accused of running a years-long campaign that stole data from American universities, companies, and government agencies.
By @helpnetsecurity · helpnetsecurity.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.