Montenegrin police nab Iranian suspected of severe hacking attacks on US

BELGRADE, Serbia — Montenegrin police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested an Iranian national suspected of hacking attacks that damaged US infrastructure to the tune of $3.4 billion, Montenegrin police say.

The 39-year-old man, with dual Iranian and Turkish citizenship, is sought by the Southern District Court in New York on charges including conspiracy to commit computer fraud, hacking, and identity theft.

He was arrested in the Adriatic coastal resort of Kotor, Montenegro’s police directorate says.

“From 2013 onward, … he carried out massive hacking attacks … targeting more than 150 universities in the United States, causing damage estimated at over $3.4 billion,” it adds in a statement.

The case will now go to a High Court judge in Montenegro’s capital of Podgorica for extradition proceedings, the police adds.

The acquired data, as well as access to compromised university accounts, were used for the benefit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian entities, including universities, it says.

The FBI is not immediately available for comment.