Hackers claim FBI portal breach: bureau opens investigation
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining a possible breach of its FBIjobs.gov personnel portal following a claim by the hacking group ShinyHunters that it obtained personal data on bureau employees and job applicants.
Politico reports this, citing the FBI and sources familiar with the investigation.
The FBI confirmed it is aware of reports of unauthorized activity related to FBIjobs.gov and is investigating the incident. On Tuesday, the bureau's hiring site and the applicant portal for special agents were unavailable for some time.
ShinyHunters claims it obtained a large amount of information about FBI employees and applicants. According to 404 Media, the hackers provided journalists with a sample of about 5,000 records that allegedly include names, home addresses, phone numbers, and information about family members of employees.
The FBI itself has not yet confirmed either the authenticity of the entire published data set or the scale of the breach claimed by the hackers. ShinyHunters also has not publicly explained which systems were compromised or over what period the data was obtained.
According to Politico, investigators are looking into the possibility that the attackers exploited a vulnerability in Oracle PeopleSoft—software used for human resources management. ShinyHunters representatives say it involved a previously unknown vulnerability, but this assertion has not yet been confirmed.
The group also stated that the attack was not motivated by money. According to ShinyHunters, it was a response to an earlier FBI warning about the group's activities.
In May, the FBI did issue a warning about ShinyHunters following an attack on the Canvas remote learning system that temporarily disrupted operations at thousands of educational institutions in the U.S.
If the breach is confirmed, information about FBI employees could pose a separate security risk, as such data could potentially be used to target law enforcement personnel for harassment, fraud, or intelligence operations. The investigation is ongoing.
