Hackers claim they stole data on nearly every FBI agent — then give Kash Patel a deadline

BS BULLETIN:

The notorious ShinyHunters hacking group claims it stole sensitive information on “almost ALL FBI Agents” and scores of job applicants.
A sample reportedly contained information on about 5,000 FBI employees, including alleged home addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth.
The hackers aren’t demanding money. They say they want the FBI to retract claims it made about them — and have given the bureau one week.

The FBI investigates hackers for a living.

Now hackers claim they have broken into the FBI.

The notorious cybercrime group ShinyHunters says it compromised FBI systems and obtained sensitive information on nearly the entire bureau workforce, including agents’ personal information and records belonging to people who applied for FBI jobs.

“We have compromised the FBI,” the group declared on its dark-web site.

“We hold very sensitive data on almost ALL FBI Agents and individuals who filed an application with the FBI for a job.”

That sweeping claim has not been independently verified.

But this much is real: The FBI is investigating.

“The FBI is aware of claims regarding unauthorized activity affecting FBIjobs.gov and is currently investigating,” the bureau said.

The FBI’s job application portal was also temporarily defaced Tuesday with a message declaring:

“This site has been seized by ShinyHunters.”

The hackers were apparently borrowing one of the FBI’s favorite moves — the seizure notices federal law enforcement puts on websites it takes down.

The portal was subsequently taken offline and replaced with an FBI maintenance page.

ShinyHunters claims it stole between 2 and 3 terabytes of information after exploiting what it described as a previously unknown vulnerability in Oracle PeopleSoft software.

The group says the compromised information includes personally identifiable information, employment and educational records, medical information and substantial amounts of applicant data.

Those claims remain under investigation.

But according to reports, ShinyHunters supplied journalists with a sample containing information on roughly 5,000 FBI employees, including purported home addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and, in some cases, information about spouses.

Some phone numbers in the sample were independently matched to the people named in the records, with several linked to Justice Department personnel.

That makes the potential security implications considerably more serious than a vandalized recruiting website.

And the hackers say this isn’t about money.

ShinyHunters claims it targeted the FBI because of a May bureau warning describing the organization as a cybercriminal group specializing in large-scale data breaches and extortion.

The FBI warning said ShinyHunters actors have used harassment, threatening communications and, in some cases, swatting to pressure victims.

ShinyHunters disputes those allegations.

Now the group says it wants the FBI to correct or remove the material — and has given the bureau one week.

“What we plan to do is not something I’d call extortion, maybe coercion,” one hacker told 404 Media, according to reports.

The group also took a swipe at President Donald Trump.

Its message ended by borrowing Trump’s familiar social-media sign-off:

“Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

ShinyHunters has not publicly specified what it intends to do if the FBI refuses its demand.

The episode comes just two weeks after the FBI unveiled a new cyber strategy aimed at disrupting criminal groups and strengthening America’s defenses against cyberattacks.

Now Director Kash Patel’s bureau is investigating whether one of those groups managed to get inside its own systems.

MY QUICK TAKE

There is plenty here we don’t know yet, and hackers aren’t exactly famous for understating their accomplishments.

But defacing the FBI’s own recruiting site with “THIS SITE HAS BEEN SEIZED” is some industrial-strength trolling.

If the larger claims about the stolen data prove true, though, the joke ends very quickly. Home addresses, spouses and personal information belonging to federal agents aren’t internet bragging rights. They’re a genuine security problem.