The FBI has arrested an accused co-conspirator linked to the ShinyHunters hacking group, which claimed last month it accessed sensitive and personal data on nearly all employees of the bureau.
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The FBI has arrested an accused co-conspirator in connection with the ShinyHunters hacking group’s claimed breach of the bureau’s jobs portal, bureau director Kash Patel said Friday.
Patel said the incident “occurred on a platform managed by a third-party vendor,” and he said the FBI will continue to work with partners to disrupt what’s left of ShinyHunters and its associates. “We will continue to work closely with our partners to disrupt what’s left of the ShinyHunters group and their associates, no matter where they operate,” Patel said in a statement.
ShinyHunters, the group that claimed responsibility for the breach, said last month it obtained sensitive and personal information on nearly all employees of the law enforcement agency.
Patel said the arrest was part of the FBI’s ongoing global investigation into the breach of its network, but the identity of the person arrested was not immediately clear and it was not immediately known what charges they may face.
In a message taking responsibility for the hack, ShinyHunters said it acted in response to false allegations contained in an FBI public advisory from May that described the organization as a “cyber criminal group specializing in large-scale data breaches and extortion.” The advisory characterized ShinyHunters as “threat actors” who use real or exaggerated claims of access to sensitive or personal information to prompt payment, and who may harass or threaten people. It also said the group “may falsely claim to have sensitive or compromising information, including embarrassing photographs or videos of victims, which frequently do not exist.”
Experts said the information that appeared to be compromised was the type of personal data routinely accessed during a breach, but they said the hack nonetheless has concerning national security implications. They said it could expose agents and their families to extortion, swatting and other harassment, and that the identities of spouses were also said to have been obtained.
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