Skip to content

Company

Mabna Institute

Tehran-based company accused by U.S. prosecutors of hiring hackers to steal foreign academic research for Iranian universities since 2013.

Known aliases

  • Mabna
  • Mabna network

Current stories

securityConfirmed5 publishers

Montenegro extradites Amir Barati, accused of hacking US universities for Iran

Montenegro extradited Turkish-Iranian Amir Barati to face US charges over a university hacking campaign that US officials say did $3.4 billion in damage. Where he chose to travel decided the case: police picked him up on holiday in Kotor, nine years after the charged hacking ended.

Perspective Coverage

6 publishers
Builder
Builder 12%
Operator
Operator 77%
Investor
Investor 11%

Reality

Evidence72
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+20
Incentives40
Confidence70
securityConfirmed7 publishers

Mabna Institute case re-upped with 17 defendants, this time during a war with Iran

Prosecutors added eight names to a 2018 indictment over 31.5 terabytes of stolen academic work. The target set has not changed: professors' mailboxes and university libraries.

Perspective Coverage

7 publishers
Builder
Builder 13%
Operator
Operator 69%
Investor
Investor 18%

Reality

Evidence70
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+15
Incentives40
Confidence70
securityConfirmed6 publishers

Five new Iran determinations widen the sanctions perimeter to eight lines of business

Operation Economic Outcast names nearly 60 targets, but the durable change is the standing authority to designate foreign firms in crypto, technology, gold, aviation and shipping.

Perspective Coverage

6 publishers
Builder
Builder 15%
Operator
Operator 52%
Investor
Investor 33%

Reality

Evidence70
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+40
Incentives60
Confidence65
securityOne report1 publisher

Jackal IV's 58 arrests cover under a third of the suspects INTERPOL identified

A week of takedowns removed people and froze assets across five separate actions, while the kit that manufactures the stolen Microsoft 365 sessions those crews depend on still sells on Telegram for $320 a month.

Publishers:sentinelone.com

Reality

Evidence28
Adoption52
Hype gap+30
Incentives58
Confidence36
securityOne report1 publisher

Defender's own signed driver becomes the bypass: BTR.sys and the week's trusted-component defects

Check Point says Microsoft's signed BTR.sys remediation driver can be repurposed as a kernel operation engine with no vulnerable driver needed. Signature-based blocking does not apply.

Reality

Evidence42
Adoption24
Hype gap+22
Incentives68
Confidence45