The Justice Department charged 17 Iranians with conducting a massive cyber theft campaign on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Iranian entities.
On Aug. 18 in a 14-count superseding indictment, the Justice Department (DOJ) charged members of the Iran-based Mabna Institute for hundreds of cyber intrusions into universities, government agencies, and private-sector companies in the United States and abroad since at least 2013.
“Today’s charges show that neither sophistication nor geographic boundaries will deter us from protecting the national security of our country from those who target the United States from abroad,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said.
The state-sponsored campaign to steal sensitive American data involved an additional eight defendants who have also been charged alongside 17 members of the Mabna Institute.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that members stole more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from universities, and the email accounts of employees at private sector companies and government agencies.
The defendants are said to have been working on behalf of the IRGC and other Iranian intelligence agencies and university clients.
In total, the indictment accuses the 17 with intrusions into computer systems to 144 U.S.-based universities, 178 foreign universities, at least 42 U.S.-based private sector companies, at least 11 foreign private sector companies, at least five U.S. federal and state government agencies, and at least two non-governmental organizations.
According to the Justice Department, those indicted are Gholamreza Rafatnejad, Ehsan Mohammadi, Abdullah Karima, Mostafa Sadeghi, Seyed Ali Mirkarimi, Mohammed Reza Sabahi, Roozbeh Sabahi, Abuzar Gohari Moqadam, Sajjad Tahmasebi, Saeid Houshyar, Behzad Mesri, Manouchehr Hashemloo, Keyvan Fayaz, Amir Barati, Saber Shahbazi Ballojeh, Arman Kahzadian, and Mojtaba Galekuhi.
Of the 17 indicted, nine of the defendants were previously charged in a 7-count indictment in March of 2018.
Cyber Warfare
According to McDonald, virtual attacks have become a key part of the play by foreign powers against the United States.
“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 said.
The DOJ and “our partners will continue to protect American innovation and pursue accountability for the individuals behind these attacks,” he said.
The Mabna Institute was founded in 2013 and, according to the Department of Justice, to “assist Iranian universities and scientific and research organizations in stealing access to non-Iranian scientific resources.”
The charges come nearly six months into the Middle East conflict, driven by U.S. and allied opposition to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and Tehran’s disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
