The FBI has opened an investigation into a suspected breach of its online jobs portal, an intrusion that may have led to the theft of personal information belonging to thousands of bureau agents and their family members.
“The FBI is aware of allegations of unauthorized activity involving FBIjobs.gov and is currently investigating the matter,” the agency said in an official statement.
Confirmation of the investigation came just hours after the cybercrime group ShinyHunters posted a message online claiming it had stolen “highly sensitive” information concerning “nearly all” FBI agents, as well as applicants seeking jobs with the bureau.
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Information could be used to threaten or harass active FBI agents or their family members
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The group provided 404 Media, which first reported the breach, with a sample of the allegedly stolen data involving about 5,000 FBI agents and members of their families. According to the site, the sample included agents’ names, home addresses, phone numbers and information about their spouses.
Two people familiar with the breach said investigators believe the group’s claims are credible and that the incident represents a significant counterintelligence failure.
The exposure of identifying information — even for a small number of agency personnel — could be used to threaten or harass active FBI agents or their family members, and could also attract the attention of foreign intelligence services and violent criminal organizations.
“The situation is very serious,” one source told Politico.
According to Reuters, the hackers also stole information about agents involved in sensitive matters related to Russia and China.
The FBI’s jobs website also appears to have been affected by the breach. On Wednesday afternoon, a message appeared on the site stating that “the system is unavailable.”
Incident occurs several months after China-linked hackers breached an FBI wiretapping system
(Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP)
The suspected breach follows another serious intrusion this year into a sensitive FBI system. In April, China-linked hackers breached an FBI wiretapping system, one of the most serious penetrations of the agency’s systems in years.
ShinyHunters is a prolific cybercrime group that has stepped up its activity this year. In May, the FBI issued a public notice detailing the group’s characteristics and methods of operation.
The notice followed an attack by ShinyHunters on the Canvas learning management system, which temporarily left thousands of schools and universities disconnected from the network.
In a statement of its own, ShinyHunters objected to the FBI notice and claimed the breach was carried out in an effort to force the agency to “correct or simply remove” the alert, while strongly denying allegations that the group had engaged in sexual extortion of victims.