US Expands Iran-Linked Hacking Case to 17 Defendants Over HBO Bitcoin Ransom Plot
The HBO hack and the $6 million Bitcoin demand
Long story short: U.S. prosecutors widened an old hacking case, folding the infamous 2017 HBO intrusion into a bigger indictment. The updated 14-count indictment, unsealed on Aug. 18, now names 17 defendants — up from the nine originally charged back in 2018.
According to the authorities, the group behind the breach nabbed unreleased TV episodes, scripts and other sensitive files, then tried to extort HBO for a ransom. The initial demand was reportedly about $5.5 million and climbed to roughly $6 million before some of the stolen material leaked online. The Justice Department has not said HBO ever paid the ransom.
Six people newly tied to the HBO incident include Behzad Mesri, Saeid Houshyar, Manouchehr Hashemloo, Keyvan Fayaz, Saber Shahbazi Ballojeh and Arman Kahzadian. Mesri had been charged previously in connection with the HBO episode, and now that episode is folded into the larger Mabna-related prosecution rather than treated as an isolated case.
The wider Mabna picture: academic theft, government ties, and rewards
Prosecutors say the operation ran under the banner of the Mabna Institute, which they allege acted like a private hacking firm carrying out cyber intrusions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian government, university, and private clients. This wasn’t a one-off prank — the government claims it targeted more than 100,000 professor accounts and managed to compromise roughly 8,000 of them.
Those intrusions allegedly resulted in the theft of at least 31.5 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property, and activity that stretched through at least December 2017. Authorities also say some members of the group participated in attacks on private and government organizations that generated over $20 million in investigation and cleanup costs.
As part of the push to hold alleged perpetrators accountable, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program put up offers of up to $10 million for information leading to the whereabouts of Mesri, Galekuhi, Kahzadian, Fayaz and Ballojeh. The superseding indictment represents the latest attempt by U.S. officials to broaden the case against this network and to tie high-profile operations like the HBO hack into the overall scheme.
