WASHINGTON: The United States unveiled charges on Friday against nine Iranians for their alleged involvement in a massive state-sponsored hacking scheme which targeted hundreds of universities in the US and abroad and stole “valuable intellectual property and data.”

Ten Iranians were also hit with sanctions along with an Iranian company, the Mabna Institute, which engaged in computer hacking on behalf of Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards, the US Treasury Department said. Those defendants were all connected to the Mabna Institute, an Iranian company that has conducted cyber attacks on the more than 360 entities, which included 144 US universities, 176 universities on foreign soil, 47 domestic and foreign private companies, and government bodies such as the US Department of Labor and the United Nations. The Justice Department said the hackers were affiliated with an Iranian organization called the Mabna Institute, founded by two of the defendants, which prosecutors said contracted with the Iranian government to steal scientific research from other countries. “By bringing these criminal charges, we reinforce the norm that most of the civilized world accepts: Nation-states should not steal intellectual property for the purpose of giving domestic industries an advantage,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in announcing the charges.
The United States charges and sanctions nine Iranians and the Iranian company Mabna Institute for hacking and attempting to hack hundreds of universities.