Extortion Group FulcrumSec Claims 86GB Manchester Airports Data Theft
Extortion group FulcrumSec claims stealing 86GB of Manchester Airports Group data, exposing 8.7 million customers' personal and booking details.
Manchester Airports Group disclosed a breach on August 27 affecting parking, lounge, Fast Track and WiFi registrations at Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports, impacting 8.7 million customers, most exposed only email addresses. FulcrumSec claims it stole about 86GB via airport-specific Iterable API credentials exposed in client-side JavaScript, including a 21.5GB Manchester export with booking histories, marketing data and nearly 200,000 records on upcoming 2026 travel. BleepingComputer verified sample records against a real traveler's Fast Track history; MAG declined to address the group's specific claims. Researchers warn the combination of UK postcodes, vehicle registrations and booking details could enable convincing targeted phishing, and MAG says no payment card or banking data was exposed.
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.