DOJ says five Iran-based hackers joined HBO hack tied to $6M BTC demand

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed additional charges against eight members of the Iran-based Mabna Institute, raising the total number indicted to 17, and said five of them were involved in the earlier hack of HBO that included a demand for about $6 million in BTC. According to the DOJ, Behzad Mesri had already been separately indicted on allegations that Mesri hacked HBO’s systems, stole internal data and then demanded roughly $6 million worth of Bitcoin. The DOJ said five of the newly charged defendants directly took part in that hack alongside Mesri. It added that the Mabna Institute is accused of carrying out hacking operations against U.S. and overseas universities, companies and government agencies on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, and others.