ShinyHunters Allegedly Hacks FBI, Exposes Agents and Applicants’ Personal Information
The infamous hacking group ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility for a significant breach of the FBI, reportedly acquiring data on numerous agents and job applicants. They made this assertion on their dark web leak platform, which TechCrunch examined, stating they had taken “sensitive information on nearly every FBI agent and those who applied for a position with the FBI.”
The news of the breach was initially reported by 404 Media, which received a sample of the purloined information, including names, residential addresses, and contact numbers of FBI agents and their spouses. They verified part of this data against publicly accessible records. The hackers stated that their breach was “not motivated by financial gain” and are demanding the FBI retract a report they allege contains false information about them.
The independent outlet revealed that the hackers accessed an Oracle PeopleSoft server, typically utilized by HR and recruitment to store personal details of job candidates. They then proceeded to infiltrate a government cloud server hosted by Amazon, which contained data on agents and applicants.
ShinyHunters indicated that they obtained terabytes of information but did not specify their next steps if the FBI fails to remove its report. This stolen data poses a serious counterintelligence risk, as hackers and foreign operatives could use it to manipulate or coerce FBI personnel and their families into collaborating with foreign entities.
Reports suggest that the hackers also defaced the FBI’s job portal, which was reported to be “currently down for maintenance” at the time of publication. Additionally, the special agent applicant portal was also unavailable.
As of Tuesday, the FBI had not responded to inquiries regarding the incident, and ShinyHunters also did not comment.
This breach marks the second reported incident affecting an FBI system this year, following a hack by unknown assailants into a system used for managing real-time wiretaps and foreign intelligence warrants, which could potentially expose targets of the agency’s surveillance efforts. In another separate case, FBI director Kash Patel’s personal email account was compromised and leaked by a hacking group linked to Iran known as Handala, as retaliation for U.S.-led actions against Iran.
