AN Iranian national linked to the Mabna Institute has been extradited to the United States from Montenegro following an FBI-directed arrest warrant. The suspect, a dual Turkish-Iranian citizen identified by initials A.B. and reported as 40 years old, is alleged to have participated in numerous cyberattacks dating back to 2013, with authorities stating the operations targeted universities, private firms and government entities.
The extradition marks a rare example of a state-linked hacker being transferred to the US for trial, given actors tied to Iran typically operate within Iran and avoid travel to extradition-friendly jurisdictions.
US authorities have unsealed a 14-count superseding indictment naming 17 Mabna Institute members who allegedly conducted intrusions on behalf of both the Islamic Republic’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and private organisations. The indictment asserts attacks against 144 US universities and 178 other institutions abroad, 42 US private companies and 11 abroad, five US government agencies, and at least two NGOs.
Reported consequences include the theft of more than 31 terabytes of academic data, scientific resources and employee emails, with stolen material said to have been handed to the Iranian government and sold to Iranian universities. The US is offering rewards of up to $10 million for information on five named hackers, though Barati’s extradition itself is portrayed as a notable development in prosecuting Iran-linked cyber operations.