Key facts
- The FBI is investigating a breach of its jobs website, FBIjobs.gov.
- The hacking group ShinyHunters claims to have stolen sensitive data on nearly all FBI agents and job applicants.
- Reuters partially verified some of the allegedly stolen data by cross-referencing it with credit bureau records and data from District 4 Labs.
- The FBIjobs.gov portal remained offline Wednesday morning.
- ShinyHunters stated the hack was a response to an FBI announcement and demanded the removal of claims characterizing them as cyber criminals.
The FBI is investigating an apparent breach of its jobs website after the hacking group ShinyHunters claimed to have accessed "very sensitive data" on nearly all agents and job applicants. The FBIjobs.gov portal, used by prospective employees to learn about the bureau and initiate applications, remained offline Wednesday morning.
ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the hack, stating it was a response to a May FBI announcement that described the organization as a "cyber criminal group specializing in large-scale data breaches and extortion." The hackers demanded the FBI remove these characterizations, which they called false allegations.
Reuters reported that it was able to partially verify the authenticity of some of the allegedly stolen FBI personnel information by cross-referencing names and postal addresses with credit bureau records and data from the dark-web intelligence firm District 4 Labs. In at least nine cases, Reuters found a match, though the agency could not definitively establish the data's origin or confirm it was stolen from FBI internal systems. The FBI has been a frequent target of hacking attempts.