The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating claims from a hacking group that it stole sensitive data on thousands of bureau employees, including information on their spouses. The FBI National Press Office confirmed the investigation in a statement Tuesday.
The claims come from the cyber group ShinyHunters, which stated it had compromised several repositories of sensitive information pertaining to "almost ALL FBI Agents and individuals who filed an application with the FBI for a job." According to the group, the compromised FBI services include Criminal Justice (CJ), HR, and Medlink.
A member of ShinyHunters provided a sample of data to 404 Media, which first reported the story. This sample reportedly included names, home addresses, phone numbers of FBI agents, and details about their spouses. ShinyHunters stated that the hack was motivated by "false allegations" made against the group by the FBI, expressing that they were "severely offended."
The FBIJobs.gov website, which is used for job applications with the bureau, displayed a "System Unavailable" banner on Tuesday evening. Both Apply.fbijobs.gov and the Special Agent Applicant Portal were inaccessible. A source familiar with the situation told Politico that investigators are treating the potential breach with significant concern, describing the situation as "really bad."