DOJ charges 17 Iranians in cybertheft campaign
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ByDavid DiMolfetta,
Cybersecurity Reporter, Nextgov/FCW
August 19, 2026 12:13 PM ET
Prosecutors say the Mabna Institute — which conducted intrusions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, among other campaigns — stole 31.5 terabytes of academic data and breached email accounts at U.S. agencies and companies.
Federal prosecutors have charged 17 Iranians affiliated with the Tehran-based Mabna Institute over an alleged hacking-for-hire operation that stole research and intellectual property from hundreds of universities and compromised email accounts belonging to U.S. government agencies and companies.
The 14-count superseding indictment, unsealed Tuesday, adds eight defendants to a case brought against nine other members of the firm in 2018. Prosecutors said the expanded charges expose a broader network that conducted cyber intrusions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian government and university clients.
The Mabna Institute targeted systems belonging to 144 U.S. universities,...
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