A group of Iran-linked hackers claimed that they accessed personal inbox of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s director Kash Patel and even published photographs of him and his purported resume on the internet, reported news agency Reuters.
The hackers, known as Handala Hack Team, wrote on their website that Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims.”
The breach of Patel’s emails was confirmed by a justice department official to Reuters but no details were provided. The official also said that what the hackers have published online is seemingly authentic.
The FBI has so far not reacted to the breach, neither the hackers group has responded yet after Reuters reached out.
While the emails published by the hackers were not immediately authenticated, the news agency reviewed them and said that they are seemingly a mix of professional and personal emails dating as back as 2010 to 2019.
Who is the Handala Hack Team?
The hackers behind this breach, Handala, is a self-proclaimed pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers group. According to several Western researchers, Iranian government’s cyberintelligence units are behind the group and use it as one of its many personas, the report said.
Earlier on March 11, the group claimed another cyberattack. It said that it hacked Stryker, which is a Michigan-based medical devices and services provider, and that it deleted a bunch of company data.
