Hacker group ShinyHunters claims to have detailed data on thousands of FBI employees.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed Wednesday it is investigating a cyber intrusion targeting its jobs portal, fbijobs.gov, after a hacking collective claimed to have stolen sensitive personal data belonging to thousands of current and former agency employees.
“The FBI is aware of a cybercriminal enterprise group claiming a compromise of the fbijobs.gov portal and alleged impact to FBI employee personally identifiable information,” the bureau said in a statement. “While the point of breach is still undetermined — whether a third-party or the FBI’s enterprise — we are actively and aggressively investigating this matter and working closely with those third-party providers that support fbijobs.gov to mitigate any and all risk.”
According to reports from Reuters and other outlets that reviewed portions of the alleged cache, the data trove — estimated between two and three terabytes — contains granular details on bureau officials’ assignments, including sensitive operations targeting Chinese espionage, Russian intelligence, and drug cartels. The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach on Tuesday, asserting it had compromised a vast number of personnel records.
The group initially threatened to release the data unless the FBI retracted an unflattering statement issued in May characterizing ShinyHunters as “threat actors” who frequently harass victims with real or exaggerated claims of data access to extort payments. By Wednesday, the group indicated it was attempting to prevent the personnel information from circulating widely.
The FBI’s May advisory warned that ShinyHunters “may falsely claim to have sensitive or compromising information, including embarrassing photographs or videos of victims, which frequently do not exist.”
The bureau has faced repeated cyber intrusions in recent months. In March, the FBI disclosed it was investigating “suspicious activities” on an internal system housing sensitive surveillance and investigative data. That same month, a pro-Iranian hacking group claimed to have compromised the account of FBI Director Kash Patel, posting years-old photographs, a resume, and personal documents dating back over a decade.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the fbijobs.gov portal remained offline.