FBI hacked? ShinyHunters claims brazen theft of sensitive agent data — what the cybercriminal group wants
Cybercriminal group ShinyHunters has claimed it breached the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and stole sensitive information belonging to thousands of agents and job applicants. The group made the statement on a dark web leak site, claiming that it had gained access to information associated with “almost all FBI agents” and people who had applied for jobs with the agency. The FBI has admitted it has been the target of unauthorised activity on its jobs website and is investigating.
The alleged breach came to light on September 22, 2026, after 404 Media reported receiving a sample of the stolen information. This sample reportedly contained names, home addresses and phone numbers of FBI agents and information about their spouses. 404 Media confirmed some of the data against public records, but the extent of the alleged leak remains unknown.
ShinyHunters claims access to FBI systems
TechCrunch reports that ShinyHunters was able to get the details by hacking into an Oracle PeopleSoft server used to manage human resources and recruitment. The hackers then state that they made themselves at home in an Amazon-hosted government cloud, where FBI agent and applicant data reside.
The group claims it stole terabytes of information. The FBI hasn’t officially confirmed how much data was accessed or whether ShinyHunters’ claims are true.
Hackers demand FBI remove the report
According to ShinyHunters, there are no financial motives in the attack. Rather, the group wants the FBI to take down a report which it says includes inaccurate allegations regarding the hacking group.
The hackers haven’t yet openly disclosed what they will do if the FBI denies them access to the allegedly stolen data. The information might raise serious security issues, as personal information about agents and their families could be used for harassment, coercion or even extortion, reported TechCrunch.
FBI job website reportedly affected
During the incident, the FBI’s job site reportedly was defaced and displayed a maintenance message. The special agent applicant portal was also reportedly not available.
The FBI has not been able to give details about the alleged intrusion in response to media requests. Reuters separately reported that the agency had not immediately commented on ShinyHunters’ claim.
The incident comes on the heels of a string of attacks on FBI computer systems this year. ShinyHunters has also been associated with some of the high-profile data breaches, such as those that targeted organisations in the education, finance and other industries.
