A group linked to Iran leaked photos, emails and threatens to publish more data

According to the information published, the attackers managed to access the personal account of Gmail of Patel and spread on the Internet private photographs, documents and a sample of more than 300 emails. Reuters said it could not independently authenticate all of the leaked messages, although it indicated that the email address matches an account previously linked to Patel in old data leaks preserved by the intelligence firm of dark web District 4 Labs.

The FBI assured that it has already taken “all necessary measures” to mitigate the risks derived from the incident and maintained that the information exposed is “historical in nature” and “does not involve government information.”

So far, neither Google, which owns Gmail, nor Patel had made additional public comments about the episode.

On its website, Handala Hack Team claimed responsibility for the attack with a provocative message: “Kash Patel will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victimsAlong with that publication, the group released a series of personal photos of the FBI director, including images in which he appears smelling and smoking cigarettes, driving a vintage car, posing in front of a mirror with a large bottle of rum and making gestures in front of the camera.

In addition to the photos, the attackers published a sample of more than 300 emails that, according to Reuters, appear to mix personal and work communications dated between 2010 and 2019. The Justice Department suggested that the emails appeared authentic, although there was not a complete independent validation of all the material.

The hackers also claimed to have obtained “personal and confidential” information about Patel, including emails, conversations, documents and even supposedly classified files. However, that last claim could not be independently verified and the FBI denied that the intrusion compromised official government information.

The attack occurred days after the Justice Department and the FBI moved against part of the group’s digital infrastructure. Earlier this month, US authorities announced the seizure of some of the domains used by the Handala Hack Team and detailed four recent attacks that the gang had claimed credit for.

In this context, Patel had toughened his tone and promised to pursue those responsible. In an official statement, he offered rewards of up to US$10 million for information about the members of the group and stated: “This FBI will hunt down every actor behind these cowardly death threats and cyberattacks and will apply the full weight of American law.”

He also maintained: “Iran believed it could hide behind fake sites and keyboard threats to terrorize Americans and silence dissidents. We tore down four pillars of its operations and we’re not done.”

This Friday, Handala confirmed on its website that the hack against Patel’s personal email was direct retaliation for these domain hijackings. “Today, once again, the world witnessed the collapse of America’s supposed security legends. As the FBI proudly seized our domain and immediately announced a reward of 10 million dollars for the heads of Handala Hack memberswe decided to respond to this ridiculous spectacle in a way that will be remembered forever,” the group wrote.

In another message, he doubled down on the provocation: “They will soon realize that FBI security was nothing more than a joke.”

Handala presents itself as a group of “pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers“, but Western researchers consider it one of several fronts used by Iranian government cyber intelligence units. The group opposes US support for Israel and, according to Reuters, its operations intensified after recent coordinated US-Israeli military attacks against Iran.

The agency noted that those attacks included a large-scale offensive that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a statement cited by the Department of Justice itself, the group even defined itself as “loyal followers of Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei” and issued explicit threats against dissidents on US soil.

“We, the Handala Hack team, loyal followers of supreme leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei“We declare war on all the enemies of Islam in the West,” said one of the emails cited by the authorities.

After keeping a relatively low profile following the attacks by the United States and Israel, Iranian hackers began to increasingly display their operations amid the prolonged conflict. According to Reuters, the US intelligence assessment reviewed by the agency in early March already anticipated that Iran and its allies could respond to Khamenei’s death with low-level attacks against US digital networks.