Iran-linked hackers have publicly claimed a breach of Kash Patel’s personal inbox, publishing photographs of the FBI director along with other documents online, as reported by the news agency Reuters.
On their website, the hacker group Handala Hack Team said Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims.” A Justice Department official confirmed that Patel’s email had been breached and said the material published online appeared authentic.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the hackers also did not respond to messages.
Handala, which describes itself as a group of pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers, is considered by Western researchers to be one of several personas used by Iranian government cyberintelligence units.
The group recently claimed responsibility for hacking Michigan-based medical devices and services provider Stryker on March 11, alleging it had deleted a large trove of company data.
However, the personal Gmail address that Handala claims to have accessed matches an address previously linked to Patel in earlier data breaches preserved by dark web intelligence firm District 4 Labs.
A sample of the material reviewed by Reuters appears to show a mix of personal and work correspondence dating from 2010 to 2019.
