Hackers Claim They Stole FBI Employee Data, and the Bureau Investigates
The ShinyHunters group posted a 5,000-line sample with names, home addresses and Social Security numbers. Reuters partly verified it; the FBI said it was looking into activity affecting its jobs website.
A hacking and extortion group known as ShinyHunters said on Tuesday, September 22, that it had breached the FBI and stolen data on a large number of current and former employees and job applicants, Reuters reported. The FBI said it was aware of claims regarding unauthorized activity affecting FBIjobs.gov and was investigating.
The group released a 5,000-line sample that it said was a small part of a two- to three-terabyte trove. It included names, home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and emergency contacts, and in some cases details of employees' assignments, including in counterintelligence and security work. Reuters partially verified the sample by checking details against credit bureau records and previously breached data, but said it could not establish exactly where the data came from.
Correction, Sept. 28, 2026. Update: The FBI publicly confirmed a 'cybersecurity incident' on September 26, and on September 28 told employees in an internal notice that names, home addresses, job titles and Social Security numbers were exposed, according to reports. It did not confirm how many records were taken.
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