The FBI has confirmed that threat actors have gained access to an email account belonging to FBI Director Kash Patel, but said no government information has been compromised.
The Iran-linked hacker group Handala on Friday claimed to have hacked Patel’s email account, releasing files allegedly representing photos, emails, and classified documents taken from the FBI director’s inbox.
“The so-called ‘impenetrable’ systems of the FBI were brought to their knees within hours by our team,” the hackers wrote.
However, the account does not appear to be hosted on FBI systems; it is a personal Gmail account. In addition, the stolen information does not seem to be recent.
It’s unclear when the account was hacked, but it may have been one of the many targeted by Iranian hackers back in 2024 as part of an operation targeting Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
In a statement to the media the FBI said it’s aware of “malicious actors targeting Director Patel’s personal email information,” noting that steps have been taken to mitigate potential risks.
The agency also pointed out that the information stored in the hacked email account is “historical in nature and involves no government information”.
The Handala group claims to be an anti-Israel and anti-US hacktivist group, but is widely believed to be a persona used by the Iranian government to conduct cyberattacks and information operations.
The group recently caused significant disruptions to US medtech giant Stryker after hacking into its systems and wiping thousands of devices. However, some of their other claims are difficult to verify or seem exaggerated or false.
Handala’s claims that it hacked Patel’s email account came shortly after the FBI announced the seizure of several domains used by the group, and the US government officially stated that Handala operates under the direction of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
The US has been offering up to $10 million for information on foreign hackers who target critical infrastructure, but on Friday the State Department specifically offered rewards for information on the Iranian threat groups Parsian Afzar Rayan Borna and Handala.
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