The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation says it is investigating a breach of its jobs website by a hacking group that claims to have obtained sensitive data on thousands of employees. According to , the data includes granular detail about scores of bureau officials’s job assignments, including sensitive work against Chinese spies, Russian intelligence, drug cartels and more. ShinyHunters said on Tuesday that it had breached the FBI and stolen data on a huge number of current and former FBI employees. It said it is holding the data hostage until the bureau rescinds an unflattering statement about the group issued in May.
On Wednesday, the group said it was trying to keep the personnel information from circulating widely in the meantime. An FBI statement in May characterised ShinyHunters as “threat actors” who often harass or threaten victims, using “their real or exaggerated claims of access to sensitive or personal information to prompt payment from victims”. The group “may falsely claim to have sensitive or compromising information, including embarrassing photographs or videos of victims, which frequently do not exist,” the FBI said.
The FBI has been a common hacking target. In March, the FBI disclosed that it was investigating “suspicious activities” on an internal system that contains sensitive information related to surveillance operations and investigations. Also that month, a pro-Iranian hacking group claimed to have hacked an account of FBI Director Kash Patel and posted online what appear to be years-old photographs of him, along with a work resume and other personal documents dating back more than a decade.
The jobs portal was still offline Wednesday afternoon.
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