Iranian accused of involvement in $3 billion hacking scheme extradited to US

Savo Prelevic/AFP/Getty Images

An Iranian man accused of being part of a hacking scheme that stole data from more than 150 US universities and companies worth over $3 billion has been extradited from Montenegro to the US to face criminal charges, police in the European country and a person familiar with the case said Thursday.

Amir Barati, 40, is expected to face wire and computer fraud charges in the US Southern District of New York, where he and 16 other Iranian nationals were charged in a superseding indictment in August. Montenegrin police arrested Barati, who is also a Turkish citizen, in June at the request of the FBI.

Barati’s extradition is welcome news for US law enforcement as it tries to blunt Iran’s cyber capabilities during the US’ ongoing war with the country Accused Iranian hackers rarely see a US courtroom.

Barati and his co-defendants are accused of participating in a yearslong campaign that began in 2013 to steal data from universities and companies around the world, breaching about 8,000 email accounts belonging to professors in the US, Europe and elsewhere. The academic data and intellectual property the hackers targeted cost the US universities about $3.4 billion to “procure and access,” according to the indictment.

CNN was unable to reach a lawyer for Barati.

One of the companies allegedly victimized included the network HBO, a subsidiary of CNN’s parent company Warner Brothers Discovery.

Barati allegedly helped track the progress of the hacks of universities and helped create “targeting lists” for the private sector, according to US court documents. Among the breached private US companies were 11 tech firms and two defense contractors, according to the Justice Department.

Other members of the conspiracy aside from Barati allegedly hacked the Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the United Nations.

Many of the intrusions were conducted on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to prosecutors.

A spokesperson for the US Southern District of New York declined to comment on Thursday about Barati’s extradition.

Iran’s sizable hacking capabilities have offered Tehran a way to threaten US critical infrastructure during seven months of war with the US and Israel. Over that time, Iran has been a key suspect in cyberattacks on US water systems , tank readers at gas stations, a major medical device maker and FBI Director Kash Patel’s private email account .

CNN’s Kara Scannell contributed reporting.

Savo Prelevic/AFP/Getty Images

周四，黑山警方和一位知情人士透露，一名被控参与黑客攻击、窃取美国150多所大学和公司价值超过30亿美元数据的伊朗男子已被从黑山引渡到美国，面临刑事指控。

40岁的阿米尔·巴拉蒂预计将在美国纽约南区面临电信和计算机欺诈指控。今年8月，他和另外16名伊朗公民在一份补充起诉书中被起诉。巴拉蒂同时也是土耳其公民，黑山警方于6月应美国联邦调查局的要求将其逮捕。

巴拉蒂的引渡对美国执法部门来说是个好消息，因为在美伊战争期间，美国正试图削弱伊朗的网络能力。被指控的伊朗黑客很少有机会在美国法庭受审。

巴拉蒂及其同案被告被控参与了一项始于2013年、持续数年的黑客活动，旨在窃取世界各地大学和公司的数据，并入侵了约8000个属于美国、欧洲及其他地区教授的电子邮件账户。起诉书称，黑客窃取的学术数据和知识产权使美国大学损失了约34亿美元，用于“获取和访问”。

CNN未能联系到巴拉蒂的律师。

据称受害公司之一包括 HBO 电视台，它是 CNN 母公司华纳兄弟探索频道的子公司。

据美国法庭文件显示，巴拉蒂涉嫌协助追踪大学遭受黑客攻击的进展，并帮助私营企业制定“目标名单”。司法部称，遭到入侵的美国私营企业包括11家科技公司和两家国防承包商。

除了巴拉蒂之外，该阴谋团伙的其他成员据称还入侵了美国劳工部、联邦能源监管委员会和联合国。

检察官称，许多入侵事件都是代表伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队进行的。

美国纽约南区检察官办公室发言人周四拒绝就巴拉蒂的引渡事宜发表评论。

在与美国和以色列长达七个月的战争期间，伊朗强大的黑客能力为德黑兰提供了威胁美国关键基础设施的途径。在此期间，伊朗一直是针对美国供水系统、加油站油箱读数器、一家大型医疗器械制造商以及联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔私人电子邮件账户的网络攻击的主要嫌疑人。

CNN的卡拉·斯坎内尔对此报道亦有贡献。