‘I cannot believe’: Iran just hacked FBI Director Kash Patel’s Gmail, and his shady secrets are spilling everywhere

Iran-linked hackers have reportedly breached FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal Gmail account, publishing a trove of his private photographs and documents online. The hacker group, calling themselves Handala Hack Team, proudly announced the breach on their website, stating that Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims.” 

According to Reuters, they published a series of personal photographs, including pictures of Patel enjoying cigars, cruising around in an antique convertible, and even making a funny face while taking a mirror selfie with a large bottle of rum. The hackers also released a sample of more than 300 emails. These messages appear to be a mix of personal and work correspondence, dating back as far as 2010 and as recently as 2019. 

While the authenticity of these specific messages couldn’t be independently confirmed, the personal Gmail address Handala claims to have breached matches an address linked to Patel in previous data breaches. The FBI, however, did confirm that Patel’s emails were targeted.

I feel like the head of the FBI should have better security

In a statement, bureau spokesman Ben Williamson assured everyone that “we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity.” He also emphasized that the data involved was “historical in nature and involves no government information,” which is a crucial distinction, though the personal invasion remains significant.

Western researchers consider Handala, which presents itself as a group of pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers, to be one of several personas used by Iranian government cyberintelligence units. This group has been quite active lately. They recently claimed responsibility for hacking Michigan-based medical devices and services provider Stryker on March 11, asserting they had deleted a massive trove of company data. 

Just before the news of the Patel hack broke, Handala also claimed to have published the personal data of dozens of Lockheed Martin employees stationed in the Middle East. Lockheed Martin acknowledged these reports, stating they have policies and procedures in place “to mitigate cyber threats to our business.”

Gil Messing, chief of staff at Israeli cybersecurity company Check Point, suggested that the hack-and-leak against Patel is part of Iran’s strategy to embarrass U.S. officials and “make them feel vulnerable” in the ongoing conflict. Patel’s questionable decisions, like holding meetings at the beach or getting in trouble with Trump for chugging beer at the Olympics, don’t need hackers for him to be embarrassed, even if they found his porn account.

This kind of targeting isn’t entirely unprecedented. Foreign hackers have a history of going after senior officials’ personal emails, and breaches and leaks happen periodically.  Additionally, these relatively unsophisticated breaches align with a U.S. intelligence assessment that indicated Iran and its proxies might respond to recent events, like the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with low-level hacks against U.S. digital networks.