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“Kash Patel, the current head of the FBI, who once saw his name
displayed with pride on the agency’s headquarters, will now find
his name among the list of successfully hacked victims,” said a
message posted Friday from the group Handala.
The message was accompanied by a collection of photographs of
Patel, including ones of him standing beside an antique sports
car and another with a cigar in his mouth. The group also said
that it was making available for download emails and other
documents from Patel's account. Many of the records appeared to
relate to his personal travels and business from more than 10
years ago
“The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel's
personal email information, and we have taken all necessary
steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this
activity,” the FBI said in a statement. “The information in
question is historical in nature and involves no government
information.”
The FBI statement did not identify the hackers believed
responsible for the breach, but it noted that the Trump
administration is offering a reward of up to $10 million for
information leading to the identification of members of the
Handala hacking group — an entity it said “has frequently
targeted U.S. government officials.”
It was not clear when the hack claimed by Handala might have
occurred. News reports from December 2024, before Patel was
confirmed as director, said that Patel had been informed by FBI
that he had been targeted as part of an Iranian hack.
Handala is a pro-Iranian, pro-Palestinian hacking group that
earlier this month claimed credit for disrupting systems at
Stryker, a Michigan-based medical technology company. Handala
said the attack was in retaliation for suspected U.S. strikes
that killed Iranian schoolchildren. They’re a prominent example
of the proxy groups that carry out cyber attacks on behalf of
Iran.
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Associated Press writer David Klepper in Washington contributed
to this report.
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