By Raphael Satter and AJ Vicens
WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) – A senior FBI official has made an unusually public request to the hacking group ShinyHunters, telling the cybercriminals on Tuesday they should get in touch following a wide-ranging breach of the bureau’s job site.
In a video address posted to X on Tuesday, FBI Assistant Director Brett Leatherman said the recent arrest of a Dutch man in connection with the ShinyHunters investigation should serve as a warning.
“Other groups believed anonymity or their friends would protect them, and they were wrong,” said Leatherman, who leads the FBI’s Cyber Division. “You know how to find us, and we know how to find you. I suggest you reach out first while the choice is still yours.”
Although couched as a threat, Leatherman’s request to open a channel of communication between law enforcement and the hackers is the latest indication of just how seriously the bureau is taking the breach, which has compromised sensitive medical records, Social Security numbers, family information, and intelligence-related details of named FBI staffers.
An internal memo distributed across the FBI said officials were operating under the assumption that every employee had been exposed, Reuters has previously reported.
ShinyHunters did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The group initially gave the bureau a week to retract an advisory about the hackers that ShinyHunters took exception to — a period of time that expired on Tuesday. The hackers have since said the ultimatum was not a deadline or a threat and they had no intention of publishing the data.
“This was all a marketing campaign,” the group said on Monday.
(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao)
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