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17 Iranians charged in alleged hacking campaign, including $6M BTC extortion
The U.S. State Department is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the defendants’ location, and prosecutors said stolen data was resold via Megapaper.ir and Gigapaper.ir.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged 17 Iranian individuals, alleging they carried out a years-long cyber campaign tied to Iran, including an attempt to extort HBO for about $6 million worth of bitcoin, according to Bitcoin Magazine.
Prosecutors said the defendants worked with the Mabna Institute, which allegedly acted on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian government and university clients. They said hundreds of U.S. and international universities, dozens of companies, and at least five state and federal government agencies were targeted in the campaign.
The indictment also referenced Behzad Mesri, previously charged with hacking HBO and stealing proprietary data, who later allegedly tried to extort approximately $6 million in bitcoin. Prosecutors said five other named defendants were directly involved in the hack.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for information on the location of the defendants. Bitcoin Magazine also reported that prosecutors said the stolen research was resold through Megapaper.ir and Gigapaper.ir, with Gigapaper.ir allegedly renting hijacked professor logins to let Iranian customers access foreign university libraries.
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