Information emerged last week of data stolen from universities around the world after the United States Department of Justice released details indicting nine Iranian nationals for stealing research from universities, research institutions, technology companies and other organisations, including the United Nations.
The amount of data stolen is staggering in scale, equivalent to eight billion double-sided pages of text. More than 300 universities were targeted and around 8,000 professors’ email accounts were compromised, it is alleged.
The information stolen from universities was used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – Iran’s intelligence organisation and other Iranian government and university clients – or sold for profit inside Iran, according to US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, releasing the indictment details on 23 March.
