17 Iranians Charged in Cyber Theft Campaign

The Department of Justice has charged 17 Iranian nationals for a significant cyber theft campaign. This campaign targeted American universities and government agencies. Reporter Alexandria Hoff explains the hackers compromised networks to steal intellectual property since 2013. Officials stress that the passing of time won’t dissuade the United States from pursuing foreign cyber criminals.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) began investigating a cybersecurity incident involving a standalone system. Senior Justice Department officials labeled the incident as a ‘major incident’ according to federal guidelines. The Qilin ransomware group claimed responsibility for the incident on their leak site. However, they have not provided evidence to support their claim. The ATF has also not directly linked the incident to Qilin.

The affected system is separate from the ATF’s enterprise network. The incident did not impact the broader network, eForms system, or other ATF systems. Once discovered, ATF disconnected the affected system and started forensic and incident-response efforts. The agency is collaborating with the Justice Department to investigate further.

Cybernews reported Qilin’s claim regarding the ATF, but no evidence has been presented. GalaxyWarden, a breach-monitoring service, noted ATF appeared on Qilin’s leak site. However, they have not independently validated these claims. Fox News Digital reached out to ATF and the Justice Department for more information about the incident’s details and data accessibility.

Senior Justice Department officials announced the event as a ‘major incident’ under federal guidelines. Required notifications have been processed. The event has not hindered ATF operations or its mission execution abilities. Also, any individuals with additional information are encouraged to contact the ATF Tipline at 1-888-ATF-TIPS or 1-888-283-8477.

Brittany Miller covered the story. She is a Fox News Digital breaking news writer and graduated from Syracuse University in 2023.