Kash Patel’s private electronic mail account was accessed by hackers linked to Iran

A hacking group known as Handala has gained entry to FBI Director Kash Patel’s electronic mail account, Reuters reports. The group revealed content material from Patel’s electronic 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 in a position to independently verify that no less than a number of the emails Handala stole had been from Patel’s account by checking data utilized by mail supply techniques that’s saved in an electronic 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 electronic mail data, and we’ve got taken all obligatory steps to mitigate potential dangers related to this exercise,” the Bureau advised TechCrunch. “The knowledge in query is historic in nature and entails 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 one in all a number of aliases utilized by cyberintelligence models 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 trying to gain access to each the Trump and Harris campaigns. Three males related to APT42 had been later charged that September.

Handala has appeared to grow to be extra energetic throughout the current conflict between the US, Israel and Iran. In response to Reuters, the group claimed to be behind a cyber attack on Stryker, a medical gadgets firm, earlier in March. Handala additionally mentioned it accessed and revealed private information from Lockheed Martin staff stationed within the Center East.