US charges Iranians over intl cyber theft

The Trump administration on Friday charged nine Iranians and one Iranian company with attempting to hack hundreds of US and international universities, dozens of companies and parts of the US government. According to the US Department of Justice, the cyberattack “on behalf of the Iranian government” pilfered more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from 144 US universities and 176 universities in 21 foreign countries, Reuters reported. The US Treasury Department said on its website that it was placing sanctions on those accused and the Mabna Institute, a company described by US prosecutors as designed to help Iranian research organizations steal information.