A hacking group referred to as Handala has gained entry to FBI Director Kash Patel’s e-mail account, Reuters studies. The group revealed content material from Patel’s e-mail on their web site as proof, together with photographs of Patel “sniffing and smoking cigars” and “making a face whereas taking an image of himself within the mirror with a giant bottle of rum.”
TechCrunch was capable of independently verify that at the very least among the emails Handala stole had been from Patel’s account by checking data utilized by mail supply methods that’s saved in an e-mail’s header. A number of stolen emails included a cryptographic signature that linked them to Patel’s account. The FBI has additionally individually confirmed that the Director’s account was hacked. “The FBI is conscious of malicious actors concentrating on Director Patel’s private e-mail data, and we’ve got taken all needed steps to mitigate potential dangers related to this exercise,” the Bureau informed TechCrunch. “The data in query is historic in nature and includes no authorities data.”
The FBI is providing as much as $10 million in rewards for extra details about the hackers who focused Patel’s account. Handala presents as a pro-Palestinian hacking group on-line, however is believed to be considered one of a number of aliases utilized by cyberintelligence items working for the Iranian authorities, Reuters writes. Teams affiliated with Iran have focused officers within the US earlier than. In August 2024, the FBI shared {that a} separate group, APT42, was attempting to achieve entry to each the Trump and Harris campaigns. Three males related to APT42 had been later charged that September.
Handala has appeared to develop into extra energetic in the course of the present battle between the US, Israel and Iran. In keeping with Reuters, the group claimed to be behind a cyber assault on Stryker, a medical gadgets firm, earlier in March. Handala additionally stated it accessed and revealed private knowledge from Lockheed Martin staff stationed within the Center East.
