WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced Friday the indictment of nine Iranians for conspiring to hack 144 American universities and stealing research worth approximately $3.4 billion.
The indictment alleges that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — on behalf of the Iranian government — contracted the defendants to steal research “through illegal computer intrusions.”
Some 176 universities in 21 foreign countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Israel were also targets of the cyber hack.
The three-year long hack campaign also targeted 36 U.S. based private companies through their email accounts. The hackers stole email inboxes and created accounts to secretly forward the victim’s new emails.
The defendants are charged with seven federal crimes including conspiracy, computer fraud, wire fraud, and identity theft.
Although all nine defendants are currently believed to be in Iran, FBI deputy director David Bowdich disputed the notion that the indictments are merely symbolic.
“A description on a wanted poster makes moving freely much more difficult,” Bowdich said. “Where we cannot apprehend individuals quickly, we will resort to different methods such as naming and shaming, sanctions, and a lot of publicity.”
In addition to the indictment, the Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on the nine defendants.
“The defendants will find it difficult to engage in business or financial transactions outside of Iran,” deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein said.
According to Rosenstein, the FBI became aware of the hacking through the work of its cyber experts in addition to the reports made by victims who came forward.