FBI investigating apparent breach after hackers claim to have stolen thousands of federal agents’ data

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images/File

The FBI is investigating an apparent breach of its networks after a prolific cybercriminal group claimed on Tuesday to have stolen thousands of FBI agents’ personal data, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

“The FBI is aware of claims regarding unauthorized activity affecting FBIjobs.gov and is currently investigating,” the bureau said in a statement to CNN. A job application portal on the FBI’s website was down on Tuesday as the agency dealt with the incident. A note on the site said the “Special Agent Applicant Portal” was currently unavailable.

The FBI’s statement came hours after the hacking group, known as Shiny Hunters, claimed the FBI as a victim on its dark website. The group said it was “offended” by a recent public advisory from the agency that analyzed the group’s alleged tactics for extorting victim organizations.

The hackers claimed to have accessed the FBI data beginning Monday evening.

Shiny Hunters, the FBI said in that May advisory, targets “major companies across tech, finance, and retail, often stealing millions of customer records at once.”

In the ensuing months, Shiny Hunters has hacked multiple large-scale healthcare organizations, leading an industry group to call the hackers a “clear and present danger to the global health sector.”

The hackers’ endgame with the FBI was unclear on Tuesday. They demanded the bureau remove or revise its online advisory, but claimed they weren’t “financially motivated” in this case. US government agencies don’t typically pay ransoms to hackers.

It’s just the latest example of US law enforcement agencies being targeted by the cybercrime groups they are investigating.

In March, CNN reported on a separate suspected cybersecurity incident on a sensitive computer network that the FBI uses to manage wiretaps and intelligence surveillance warrants.

A likely Russian-speaking cybercriminal gang last month leaked what appear to be sensitive law enforcement files it stole from the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives . The dumped files appear to include information on targets of past ATF investigations and analyses of their phone communications, according to a CNN review of the data.

A 2023 ransomware attack on the US Marshals Service targeted the subjects of their investigations. That same year, hackers breached a computer system the FBI’s New York field office used in child sexual exploitation investigations, including a system used to store images related to the Jeffrey Epstein probe, according to people briefed on the matter.

Patrick T. Fallon/法新社/盖蒂图片社/档案照片

据两名知情人士透露，一个活跃的网络犯罪团伙周二声称窃取了数千名联邦调查局特工的个人数据，联邦调查局正在调查一起明显的网络入侵事件。

联邦调查局在发给CNN的一份声明中表示：“联邦调查局已注意到有关FBIjobs.gov网站遭到未经授权活动的说法，目前正在调查中。” 周二，由于该机构正在处理这起事件，联邦调查局网站上的一个职位申请门户网站一度瘫痪。网站上的一则通知显示，“特工申请人门户网站”目前无法访问。

在名为“闪亮猎手”（Shiny Hunters）的黑客组织在其暗网站上声称FBI是其受害者数小时后，FBI发表了声明。该组织表示，FBI近期发布的一份公开声明对其“冒犯”，该声明分析了该组织涉嫌敲诈勒索受害机构的手段。

黑客声称从周一晚上开始入侵了FBI的数据。

FBI 在 5 月份的公告中表示，“闪亮猎手”的目标是“科技、金融和零售业的大型公司，经常一次性窃取数百万条客户记录”。

在接下来的几个月里，Shiny Hunters 黑客组织入侵了多个大型医疗保健机构，导致一个行业组织称这些黑客对全球卫生部门构成了“迫在眉睫的危险”。

周二，黑客对FBI的最终目的尚不明确。他们要求FBI删除或修改其在线安全公告，但声称他们并非出于“经济动机”。美国政府机构通常不会向黑客支付赎金。

这只是美国执法机构被他们正在调查的网络犯罪集团攻击的最新案例。

今年 3 月，CNN 报道了另一起疑似网络安全事件，该事件发生在 FBI 用于管理窃听和情报监视令的敏感计算机网络上。

上个月，一个疑似讲俄语的网络犯罪团伙泄露了一批敏感的执法文件，这些文件似乎是从美国司法部烟酒枪炮及爆炸物管理局（ATF）窃取的。据CNN对这些数据进行分析后发现，泄露的文件似乎包含ATF过去调查对象的信息以及对其电话通信的分析。

2023年，美国法警署遭遇勒索软件攻击，其调查对象成为攻击目标。同年，据知情人士透露，黑客入侵了联邦调查局纽约分局用于儿童性剥削调查的计算机系统，其中包括一个用于存储与杰弗里·爱泼斯坦案相关的图像的系统。