US Justice Department Unseals Charges Against 17 Hackers in Iran Backed Campaign
4 sources across 3 countries · United States · Israel · United Kingdom
Who reported this
- CNN
- Al-Monitor
- The Jerusalem Post
- Reuters
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
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The US Department of Justice unsealed new and updated charges on Tuesday against 17 individuals allegedly involved in a state sponsored hacking campaign backed by Iran. The defendants are accused of working with the Mabna Institute to steal data and intellectual property from US government agencies, companies, and universities. The campaign targeted at least five federal and state government agencies, including the Department of Labor and the United Nations, as well as dozens of US companies and hundreds of universities globally.
According to the DOJ, the Mabna Institute operated on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other government clients. Between 2013 and 2017, the group targeted over 100,000 professor accounts worldwide, successfully breaching approximately 8,000 email accounts across 144 US universities and 178 international universities. One report notes that the stolen academic data cost US universities $3.4 billion to procure and access. The current indictment expands upon a March 2018 case that originally charged nine individuals.
US Attorney Jamie McDonald stated that the charges reveal a broader network behind the effort to steal research and intellectual property. In response, the US State Department's Rewards for Justice program announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the location of several of the charged individuals. Representatives for the Iranian government at the United Nations did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reporting on the event varied by political lean. Center left coverage framed the incident as part of a broader US Iran war and highlighted other suspected Iranian cyberattacks on US infrastructure. Center and center right coverage focused more on the specific legal charges, the role of the Mabna Institute, and the financial rewards offered for the suspects.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- Framed the hacking as part of an ongoing US Iran war and linked it to other infrastructure attacks.
- Centre
- Focused on the factual details of the DOJ charges and the specific entities involved.
- Centre-right
- Emphasized the state sponsored nature of the theft and the specific rewards offered for the hackers.
Sources
- Centre Al-Monitor: DOJ unseals new charges against 17 hackers in Iran-backed campaign
- Centre-left CNN: Justice Department charges eight Iranians for allegedly hacking US government and colleges
- Centre Reuters: DOJ unseals new charges against 17 hackers in Iran-backed campaign - Reuters
- Centre-right The Jerusalem Post: DOJ unseals new charges against 17 hackers in Iran-backed campaign
93% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.