The Department of Justice unsealed a 14-count superseding indictment Tuesday charging 17 people with conducting “massive cyber theft” on hundreds of universities and companies in the U.S. and foreign countries.
Members of the Mabna Institute, an Iran-based organization, are accused of participating in a “coordinated campaign of cyber intrusions” that used stolen account credentials to collect more than 31 terabytes worth of academic data, research and intellectual property on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian entities, the DOJ said.
The defendants targeted more than 100,000 accounts of professors around the world, successfully compromising approximately 8,000 email accounts, according to the DOJ. Attacks affected 144 universities, at least 42 private sector companies and at least five government agencies in the U.S., in addition to 178 foreign universities and 11 foreign private sector companies.
The charges “reveal the broader network allegedly behind a sweeping, state-sponsored campaign to steal research and intellectual property from American universities, businesses, and government institutions,” said Jamie McDonald, U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York.
“Cyber operations have become a central instrument of national power, and attacks on American and allied institutions carry direct consequences for our security and economic strength,” McDonald continued. “This office and our partners will continue to protect American innovation and pursue accountability for the individuals behind these attacks.”
The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information related to the location of five of the defendants: Behzad Mesri, Mojtaba Galekuhi, Arman Kahzadian, Keyvan Fayaz and Shahbazi Ballojeh.
This is the second time members of the Mabna Institute have been charged with similar crimes. Nine of the 17 defendants charged in the indictment were previously charged in a seven-count indictment in March 2018, the DOJ said.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said the National Security Division is “committed to protecting the United States from such predators and will pursue those who perpetrate such crimes for as long as it takes to bring them to justice.”
Defendants could face maximum penalties between two and 20 years in prison.