US gets its hands on alleged Iranian hacker in rare extradition
An Iranian-Turkish dual national was extradited from Montenegro to the US to face charges related to an alleged years-long cyber operation that targeted US government agencies, universities, and tech firms.
In June, Montenegrin officials detained 40-year-old Amir Barati at the FBI’s request. He is scheduled to appear before a federal court in the Southern District of New York after being moved to US custody.
An updated indictment filed in August names 17 Iranian nationals, including Barati. The group is accused by prosecutors of taking part in a cyber campaign that began in 2013 and reportedly stole intellectual property, academic data, and other private information from targets worldwide.
About 8,000 email accounts belonging to university teachers in the US, Europe, and other countries were compromised by the hackers, according to US court filings that reported.
According to prosecutors, it would have cost US institutions over $3.4 billion to lawfully gain access to the academic content and intellectual property that the hackers targeted.
Barati allegedly assisted in compiling lists of targets for the business sector and monitoring cyber activities against academic institutions.
According to the US Justice Department, two defense contractors and eleven technology companies were among the groups targeted by the larger network. The US Department of Labor, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the United Nations are among the organizations whose systems are allegedly compromised by other alleged members of the operation.
Additionally, US prosecutors claim that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran was involved in a number of the cyber activities.
The fact that Iranian defendants accused of state-affiliated cyber operations never face physical prosecution in US courts makes Barati’s extradition especially noteworthy.
The discovery coincides with increased scrutiny of Iran’s cyber capabilities, as Tehran is accused of utilizing hacking operations to target American institutions and infrastructure during the ongoing struggle between Israel, the United States, and Iran.
