The US says 17 people tied to Iran's Mabna Institute hacked hundreds of universities and other organizations worldwide, stealing academic research, intellectual property, and email account access. The Justice Department says the group acted on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and targeted 144 US universities, 178 foreign universities, 53 private companies, five US government agencies, and at least two NGOs, stealing more than 31 terabytes of data and compromising roughly 8,000 professor email accounts. The US is also offering rewards for five of the defendants.
Why it matters: This matters because it shows the scale of state-backed theft of research and intellectual property from higher education and other sectors, including government and nonprofit targets. Universities and organizations with valuable research should review old credential-theft exposure, harden phishing defenses, and watch for reuse of compromised academic or corporate accounts.
Bill Toulas
2026.08.19
99% relevant
This article is the same underlying event: the U.S. charges against 17 alleged Mabna Institute hackers tied to Iran, adding details on the newly charged eight defendants, the estimated $3.4 billion value of stolen research, the compromise of roughly 8,000 professor accounts, and State Department rewards for five suspects.
2026.08.19
98% relevant
This article is the same underlying DOJ action and adds specific victim details, including alleged breaches of Department of Labor, FERC, Hawaii and Indiana state agencies, and U.N. organizations, plus details on stolen professor email accounts and data resale inside Iran.
Ionut Arghire
2026.08.19
100% relevant
This article establishes a distinct story by announcing a superseding US indictment and rewards tied to the Mabna Institute's Iran-linked hacking campaign against universities and other organizations.
← Back to all stories