A pro-Iranian group has released the personal emails and photos of the head of the FBI after his accounts were hacked.
Hundreds of documents, photographs and a CV of Kash Patel were shared by the Handala Hack Team, which has ties to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence.
The group wrote: ‘Kash Patel, the current head of the FBI, who once saw his name proudly displayed at the agency’s headquarters, will now find his name on the list of successfully hacked victims.
“The FBI’s so-called ‘impenetrable’ systems were brought to their knees within hours by our team.”
Many of the hacked data shared were from more than a decade ago.
The leaked photos included one of Mr. Patel smoking a cigar in his mouth and another of the FBI chief standing next to a vintage sports car.
Handala, which presents itself as a pro-Palestinian hacker group, is thought to be one of several fronts used by the Iranian regime to carry out cyber attacks.
Earlier this month the same group claimed to have hacked Stryker, a Michigan-based medical services provider, and deleted a large number of its files.
More than 300 emails sent and received by Mr Patel from a Gmail account were shared, dating from 2010 to 2019.
It comes amid an increase in cyber-related operations by Iran-backed organizations.
On Thursday, Handala claimed to have targeted employees working at Middle East for defense firm Lockheed Martin.
The company said it was aware of the reports and had systems in place “to mitigate cyber threats to our business”.
The FBI confirmed that the details obtained were “historical in nature” and that no government information had been leaked.
She said in a statement: “The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting the Director Patelhis personal email information and we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate the potential risks associated with this activity.
“The information in question is historical in nature and includes no the government information.’
Gil Messing, chief of staff at Israeli cyber security company Check Point, said the disclosure of Patel’s personal data was designed to US officials feel ‘vulnerable’.
Iranian groups were “shooting whatever they had,” he said.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Iran warns Israel and the US are “playing with fire” after attacks on nuclear facilities
MORE: Tiger Woods was arrested and charged with driving under the influence
