The United States Department of Justice has charged nine Iranian nationals for engaging in a massive phishing campaign on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The allegations include the theft of US$3.4 billion in research and intellectual property from 320 colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad, as well as from 47 foreign and domestic companies, plus several federal agencies, state governments, and the United Nations.
All of the defendants were affiliated with the Mabna Institute, an Iranian firm that launched a massive cybercampaign in 2013, eventually stealing 31.5 terabytes of email account data from thousands of U.S. and foreign corporate employees and university faculty members around the world.
The nine defendants: Gholamreza Rafatnejad, 38; Ehsan Mohammadi, 37; Abdollah Kharima, aka Vahid Kharima, 39; Mostafa Sadeghi, 28; Seyed Ali Mirkarimi, 34; Mohammed Reza Sabahi, 26; Roozbeh Sabahi, 24; Abuzar Gohari Moqadam, 37; Sajjad Tahmasebi, 30. All of the defendants are Iranian citizens.
The defendants have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, which carries a five-year sentence; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a 20-year sentence; two counts of unauthorized access to a computer, which carry five years each; two counts of wire fraud, which carry up to 20 years; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two years in prison.
The Treasury Department sanctioned the Mabna Institute and 10 Iranians -- the nine defendants named in this case and Behzad Mesri, who previously was indicted in a case last fall. In that case, Mesri is accused of hacking and trying to extort HBO for $6 million in bitcoins, after stealing episodes of unaired episodes of various shows, including Ballers, Insecure, and Game of Thrones.
The various agencies and governments hit by the latest attack include the U.S. Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the states of Hawaii and Indiana, the United Nations, and the United Nations Children's Fund.
Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the sanctions as provocative and illegal.
The U.S. "will not be able to use such ploys to stop or prevent Iranian people's scientific progress," said spokesperson Bahram Qassemi.