Iran’s top cyber-espionage training academy has reportedly been hacked, leaking names and phone numbers of recruits trained to carry out state-backed attacks.
The breach was acknowledged by Ravin Academy in a Telegram post on October 22 that blamed “foreign rivals” for attempting to discredit its cyber programs ahead of the country’s National Cybersecurity Olympiad later this month.
“This incident, coupled with the repeated publication of false and misleading content in the past, has the goals of damaging the reputation of this academy, undermining security in Iran, and harming the standing of the National Olympiad in the field of cybersecurity,” the statement reads.
“Given the media efforts over the past year to achieve the aforementioned goals, it is natural that the opponents and international competitors of this event seek to damage this great national achievement.”
According to The Register, many of the individuals listed in the leak were academics or engineers, some of whom currently hold positions at Western universities. Although less technically capable than China or Russia, Iran remains one of the West’s most persistent cyber adversaries, conducting regular intrusions against critical infrastructure and regional governments.
Founded in 2019, Ravin Academy operates under Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and serves as a training hub for state-sponsored cyber units. The school and its founders have been sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union for recruiting hackers involved in espionage and human rights abuses.
Intelligence agencies have linked Ravin graduates to MuddyWater, also known as APT34 or Yellow Nix, a long-running MOIS-backed group responsible for cyberattacks across the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa. Despite repeated sanctions, analysts say the group remains active and was behind more than 100 intrusions this year alone.
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