The Justice Department has charged 17 people connected to an Iran-based hacking organization accused of conducting an extensive campaign of cyberattacks against universities, businesses and government agencies in the United States and abroad.

Federal prosecutors in New York unsealed a 14-count superseding indictment against members of the Mabna Institute, a Tehran-based organization accused of carrying out cyber operations for financial gain and on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to prosecutors, the group has targeted the computer systems of 144 American universities and 178 universities in other countries since at least 2013. The alleged hackers also targeted 42 U.S. businesses, 11 foreign companies, five federal and state government agencies and two nongovernmental organizations.

Authorities said the hackers attempted to gain access to more than 100,000 professors’ accounts worldwide. Approximately 8,000 university email accounts were successfully compromised.

The operation allegedly resulted in the theft of approximately 31.5 terabytes of academic research and intellectual property, including journals, dissertations, theses and electronic books.

Prosecutors said members of the organization obtained professors’ usernames and passwords through fraudulent emails and other cyber-intrusion techniques. The stolen credentials were then used to enter university networks and library systems.

Some of the stolen academic material was reportedly sold to customers in Iran. Another website allegedly sold access to compromised professors’ accounts, allowing customers to enter subscription-based university databases without authorization.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald described the case as a sweeping, state-sponsored effort to steal valuable research and intellectual property from American institutions.

“More than eight years after making the original indictment public, these charges make clear that the passage of time will not deter us from identifying and pursuing those who target the United States from abroad,” McDonald said.

Nine defendants were originally charged under seal in February 2018. Those charges were made public the following month. The new indictment adds eight defendants and expands the government’s description of the network behind the alleged operation.

The defendants face various charges, including conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, computer fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The computer-intrusion and computer-fraud charges carry potential sentences of up to five years in prison. Wire-fraud and wire-fraud conspiracy charges are punishable by as many as 20 years. Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year sentence.

The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering rewards of up to $10 million for information leading to the location of five defendants: Behzad Mesri, Mojtaba Galekuhi, Arman Kahzadian, Keyvan Fayaz and Saber Shahbazi Ballojeh.

The defendants are accused of operating from outside the United States, and the indictment does not indicate that any of them are currently in American custody.

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