A hacker group linked with Iran publicly announced on Friday that it had breached the email of Kash Patel and posted personal documents and photographs of the FBI director from around a decade ago.
The cybercriminals, known as the Handala Hack Team, posted a message boasting about the breachwhich was first reported by Reuters. The news organization said it was unable to authenticate the emails.
“Kash Patel, the current head of the FBI, who once saw his name displayed with pride on the agency’s headquarters, will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims,” Handala wrote in a message posted Friday, according to The Associated Press.
The message was accompanied by several photos of Patel, including him standing next to a sports car and another smoking a cigar, according to the AP. Its significance was largely downplayed by the FBI.
“The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel’s personal email information, and we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity,” the FBI said in a statement. “The information in question is historical in nature and involves no government information.”
The breach comes after the Department of Justice on March 19 announced the seizure of four domains affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security as part of an effort to shut down the ministry’s “hack and leak” operations and cyberattacks.
“This FBI will hunt down every actor behind these cowardly death threats and cyberattacks and will bring the full force of American law enforcement down on them,” Patel said on March 19.
Handala is a pro-Palestinian and Iranian hacker group. Its name comes from a character in the political cartoons of Naji al-Ali, a Palestinian artist. Officials suspect the group operates under the ministry.
DOJ earlier this month said Handala leaked the personal information of 190 people affiliated with the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli government. Handala Hack posted confidential data and names, threatening that individuals were being monitored.
According to DOJ, the hacker group is known to threaten and harass Iranian dissidents and journalists living in the United States and abroad. One Handala-linked account on March 1 sent death threats to two people.
“We the Handala Hack team, the loyal followers of the supreme leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, declare war on all the enemies of Islam in the West,” the hacker group said. A DOJ report said the group gave an enemies list to its partners in America and Canada, detailing those it holds responsible for the death of the Iranian leader.
The attack against Patel is another escalation placing the United States on high alert against the ministry and its network of hackers.
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It’s not the first time Patel has been targeted by Iranian hackers. Patel’s personal communications were accessed in December 2024, before he was appointed FBI director.
Iranian hackers have a long history of targeting the Trump administration. Officials have speculated that the attacks stemmed from President Donald Trump’s decision during his first term at the White House to order a fatal drone strike on Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian commander, according to the BBC.
The FBI had no immediate comment on the breach of Patel’s emails, and Handala did not respond to messages, according to Reuters.