Iran-linked hackers breach FBI director's personal email

[Ruby the Liberal]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - Iran-linked ​hackers have publicly claimed the breach of FBI ‌Director Kash Patel's personal inbox, publishing photographs of the director and other documents to the internet.

On their website, the hacker ​group Handala Hack Team said Patel "will now find ​his name among the list of successfully hacked ⁠victims." A Justice Department official confirmed that Patel's email had ​been breached and said the material published online appeared authentic.

(snip)

Handala, which calls itself ​a group of pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers, is considered by ​Western researchers to be one of several personas used by Iranian ‌government ⁠cyberintelligence units. Handala recently claimed the hack of Michigan-based medical devices and services provider Stryker on March 11, claiming to have deleted a massive trove of company ​data.

Reuters was not ​able to ⁠independently authenticate the Patel emails, but the personal Gmail address that Handala claims to have ​broken into matches the address linked to ​Patel in ⁠previous data breaches preserved by the dark web intelligence firm District 4 Labs. A sample of the material uploaded by ⁠the ​hackers and reviewed by Reuters ​appears to show a mix of personal and work correspondence dating between ​2010 and 2019.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/iran-linked-hackers-claim-breach-of-fbi-directors-personal-email-doj-official-2026-03-27/

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...confirmed by DOJ





Edit to add: Looks like TechCrunch took a spin through the files. LOL

https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/27/iranian-hackers-claim-breach-of-fbi-director-kash-patels-personal-email-account/

We used a tool to verify several emails in the leaked cache of files that were sent by Patel from his Gmail account. These emails contained cryptographic signatures that matched the messages, which strongly suggests that the emails we checked are authentic. In some cases, Patel appears to have sent emails from his former Justice Department email address in 2014 to his Gmail account. TechCrunch found that the emails sent from Patel’s DOJ account also appeared to be authentic.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. The first rule of Fight Club: NT

[not fooled]

2. Oh please release embarrassing information about kashyap

and drive him from office in disgrace.

Oh, wait, the Iranians benefit from having buffoons running the U.S.

[Captain Zero]

3. Yes but it would be disruptive

And rumpus would need to find another buffoon.

[Buddyzbuddy]

4. What, they figured out his super secret password, 1,2,3,4?

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Or 'ILuvDonald'

Luckily, it's been clear from when he was nominated that he's a complete clown, so I think anyone serious will have avoided sending anything to his personal email.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

6. I can only imagine what might be in his personal emails

Love letters to Mike Lindell? Answering the Nigerian prince who promised him a share of $10 million? A purchase order for his penis enlarger? The possibilities are boundless.

[riversedge]

7. ah, they just wanted to see what Kash was saying to his girlfriend.

Iranian hackers claim breach of FBI director Kash Patel’s personal email account

www.yahoo.com/news/article... via @@YahooNews

— (@oceancalm.bsky.social) 2026-03-27T16:25:59.330Z

[DBoon]

8. Will they find any sensitive FBI business?

I bet not, as he does not seem to do any work.

[Figarosmom]

9. Of course they did. This group makes it so easy.

They are likely in the war guy's accounts too. And I'd even bet money they have truth social accounts.

[Nasruddin]

10. endless hearings

Well here's something for endless hearings while we while away the hours between Jan 2027 and Nov 2028.

[Attilatheblond]

11. Been calling him 'Petty Kash' but now he's 'Show & Tell Patel'

[xuplate]

12. Hack them all

[Warpy]

13. I don't expect it to be anything but embarrassing

Kash Patel wasn't hired for his experience or even basic competence. He was rewarded for his lickspittle loyalty.

[IcyPeas]

14. "the attack was in retaliation for the US-Israeli strike on a children's school"

The hacking group, which describes itself as pro-Palestinian hacking vigilantes, also claimed credit for a recent cyberattack on the medical device company Stryker.

The group, which Western researchers have said is linked to Iranian cyberintelligence, said that the attack was in retaliation for the US-Israeli strike on a children’s school in Minab in southern Iran that killed more than 170 people, most of them schoolgirls

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/27/fbi-director-kash-patels-emails-photos-hacked-by-iran-linked-group

[NNadir]

15. Hopefully they didn't find any porn beyond the moral and ethical porn...

...that characterizes every bit of the orange pedophile's administration.