US Justice Department targets Iranian institute for activity linked to IRGC

The US Justice Department has indicted 17 individuals associated with Iran's Mabna Institute on charges of engaging in cyber activities on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Iranian entities. According to the Department, the Mabna Institute was involved in a "widespread cyber campaign" that targeted over 100,000 accounts belonging to university professors across the globe, resulting in the theft of more than 31 terabytes of academic and intellectual property data, as well as email accounts of employees.

This campaign affected 144 US universities, 178 foreign universities, at least 42 US companies, 11 foreign companies, five US federal and local government agencies, and two non-governmental organizations, leading to costs exceeding $20 million, as stated in the DoJ's announcement.