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The FBI is working to determine whether a breach involving its jobs website originated within the bureau or through a third-party provider after a criminal hacking group claimed it obtained FBI employees’ personal information.
“The FBI is aware of a cyber-criminal enterprise group claiming a compromise of the FBIJobs.gov portal and alleged impact to FBI employee personally identifiable information (PII),” the organization wrote in an X post Thursday.
“While the point of breach is still undetermined — whether a third-party or the FBI’s enterprise — we are actively and aggressively investigating this matter and working closely with those third-party providers that support FBIJobs.gov to mitigate any and all risk.”
Jason Pack, CEO of Media Rep Global Strategies and a retired FBI supervisory special agent, said the distinction between a personnel data breach and access to the FBI’s classified systems is critical as investigators determine the scope of the incident.
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“There is a meaningful difference between somebody obtaining personnel information and somebody gaining access to classified investigative systems,” he told Fox News Digital. “Based on what we know right now, there is no indication they have the keys to the kingdom.”
ShinyHunters, a criminal hacking and extortion group, has taken responsibility for the breach and said it stole information belonging to nearly all FBI agents and people who applied to work for the bureau, Reuters previously reported.
A sample of data shared with Reuters contained agents’ names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, assignments and, in some cases, names of family members, according to the outlet.
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Pack said combining personal information with information about an FBI employee’s work could create additional security risks.
“If an adversary knows who somebody is, where they work and what they do, they can build a much more believable scam around that person,” he said.
Pack said assignment information could also carry counterintelligence implications if it falls into the hands of a foreign intelligence service.
“There is also a counterintelligence concern. If a foreign intelligence service can associate particular people with certain assignments, it can help them identify individuals they may want to learn more about, approach or potentially assess for recruitment,” he added.
“That does not mean that is happening here. It simply explains why assignment information can have value to an adversary.”
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Pack stressed that the hackers’ claims remain separate from what the FBI has confirmed, and said the bureau still needs to determine what information was accessed, how the breach occurred and who may have been affected.
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“The danger from stolen personal information does not necessarily end when the computer vulnerability is fixed,” he said. “Criminals may hold onto that information and use it weeks or months later.”
The FBI said it is working with third-party providers supporting FBIJobs.gov as investigators seek to determine the source of the breach and mitigate potential risks.