- Iran-linked hackers, identified as the Handala Hack Team, publicly claimed to have breached the personal email inbox of FBI Director Kash Patel.
- The group published photographs of Patel and other documents online, stating that Patel is now among their "successfully hacked victims."
- A Justice Department official confirmed the email breach and indicated that the material published online appeared authentic.
- Western researchers consider Handala to be one of several personas utilized by Iranian government cyberintelligence units, which recently claimed another hack on medical devices provider Stryker.
- While Reuters could not independently authenticate the emails, the personal Gmail address matches one previously linked to Patel in other data breaches, with the content appearing to be a mix of personal and work correspondence from 2010 to 2019.
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