The United States has unsealed a new indictment against 17 members of Iran’s Mabna Institute, accusing the group of running a years-long hacking campaign on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian entities.
The charges add a cyber front to the wider Iran crisis, which has already disrupted Gulf shipping, pushed oil markets higher, and deepened the standoff between Washington and Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz.
What The Justice Department Alleged
In a statement released Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department said a 14-count superseding indictment charges 17 people tied to the Iran-based Mabna Institute. Prosecutors allege the group carried out cyber intrusions into 144 U.S.-based universities, 178 foreign universities, at least 42 U.S.-based private companies, at least 11 foreign companies, at least five U.S. federal and state government agencies, and at least two non-governmental organizations.
The department said the hackers stole more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property, along with employee email accounts from companies, government agencies, and NGOs. The alleged targets included universities, research institutions, private-sector companies, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the State of Hawaii, the State of Indiana, the United Nations, and UNICEF.
Federal prosecutors said the campaign began around 2013 and targeted more than 100,000 professor accounts worldwide. About 8,000 professor accounts were successfully compromised, according to the indictment.
Why This Matters Now
The indictment lands as the U.S. and Iran remain locked in a broader confrontation. Reuters reported Tuesday that a temporary ceasefire agreement expired Monday, while President Donald Trump said no talks with Iran were taking place or scheduled. Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain shut until Washington meets conditions tied to sanctions, frozen assets, and military operations.
The cyber charges are not described as a new wartime attack. Many of the alleged intrusions date back years, and nine of the defendants were previously charged in 2018. But prosecutors framed the new indictment as evidence of a wider network behind state-sponsored theft of research, academic material, and sensitive institutional data.
Cybersecurity Dive reported that the charges came amid separate investigations into cyber incidents affecting water systems in multiple U.S. states. No charges have been filed in that water-system matter, but U.S. authorities have been watching possible Iran-linked cyber activity closely as the regional crisis expands.
The Bigger Cyber Espionage Picture
According to the Justice Department, the Mabna Institute allegedly operated as a hacking-for-hire organization serving Iranian government and university clients. Prosecutors say stolen academic resources were also sold through websites inside Iran, giving buyers access to compromised university accounts and academic databases.
The indictment also links several defendants to the hack of HBO systems, alleging they helped steal proprietary data and attempted to extort the company for roughly $6 million in Bitcoin.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the location of several defendants, according to the Justice Department.
The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Sources: U.S. Justice Department, Cybersecurity Dive, Reuters via Al-Monitor