THE US has indicted 17 members of the Mabna Institute, an Iranian cyber espionage group, for a hacking campaign that lasted several years, stealing 31TB of data from universities, businesses, and government agencies worldwide. The group, tied to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, targeted over 100,000 faculty accounts across 24 countries. They compromised systems at 144 US universities and over 200 foreign entities.
The stolen academic and intellectual property was sold online, generating significant financial damage, prompting the US to offer a $10 million reward for the capture of the defendants, who are predominantly based in Iran. This indictment, eight years in the making, underscores the ongoing pursuit of justice in cyber crimes.