Federal investigators are looking into a hacker group’s claim that it breached the FBI’s jobs website and stole sensitive personal information.
Federal investigators are looking into a hacker group’s claim that it breached the FBI’s jobs website and stole sensitive personal information from thousands of current FBI employees and job applicants.
The group calling itself ShinyHunters says it has data on nearly all FBI agents and people who applied for jobs. The group claims alleged samples include home addresses, phone numbers and some information about spouses.
“The FBI is aware of a cyber-criminal enterprise group claiming a compromise of the FBIJobs.gov portal and alleged impact to FBI employee personally identifiable information,” the agency said in a statement.
The FBI said it is actively and aggressively investigating, but it has not confirmed the hackers’ claims or determined whether the breach came from its own systems or a third-party provider. The FBI’s job board has been taken offline.
Earlier this year, FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email was also hacked. At the time, officials emphasized that no FBI systems were breached, but the incident highlighted a cybersecurity vulnerability.
If the most recent hack turns out to be real, FBI agents and job applicants could face harassment, swatting or extortion, and it could create serious safety and national security concerns.
ShinyHunters is a cybercriminal group known for large-scale data breaches and extortion. In this case, it claims the attack was retaliation for an FBI warning that described the group as a threat.
