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The cybercriminal group ShinyHunters claims to have breached FBI systems. Thousands of FBI employee records could have been stolen.
According to POLITICO, the FBI is investigating a possible breach into its online jobs portal. “The FBI is aware of claims regarding unauthorised activity affecting FBIjobs.gov and is currently investigating,” said the FBI National Press Office in a statement. The investigation was confirmed a couple of hours after the cybercriminal group ShinyHunters posted a message online claiming that it had stolen “very sensitive” data on “almost all” FBI agents.
The data breach happened, reportedly, in retaliation against the agency for publishing false allegations about how the hacker group operates. A sample of stolen data affecting 5,000 supposed FBI agents has been sent to the 404 Media portal. It included names, home addresses, phone numbers and information on agents’ spouses in some cases.
Investigators believe that the group’s claims about the breach are credible, according to two sources familiar with the case. Gathered information can be used to harass, threaten or blackmail active FBI personnel and their families. Foreign intelligence services and international criminal groups could be interested in purchasing or obtaining that data.
The FBI’s job site itself seemed to have been affected by the breach as it did feature a “system unavailable” banner on Tuesday afternoon.
It has not been specified what systems or databases were breached, how much data was stolen, or what time period is covered by the data. ShinyHunters is a prolific cybercriminal group which has been increasingly active this year. The FBI put out a public service announcement outlining the hacking group and its tactics in May. ShinyHunters claims that the released statement was the reason for the breach and it wants to force the FBI to “correct or simply remove” the announcement.