Kamal Ghorui
Iran-linked hackers have reportedly claimed that they broke into the personal email inbox of FBI Director Kash Patel and published a series of private photographs and documents online, marking one of the most sophisticated cyberattacks on a sitting US law enforcement chief. According to a report by news agency Reuters, the claim was made on Friday (March 27) by the hacker group Handala Hack Team, which also took responsibility for hacking the medical devices manufactured by Stryker – one of the biggest medical equipment maker in the US.The report says that the hackers posted extensive material on its website along with a pointed message for the FBI Director: Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims.”
Hackers publish emails of FBI director online
The report claims that the hackers uploaded a collection of personal photographs of the FBI director, including images of Patel smoking and sniffing cigars, riding in an antique convertible and taking a selfie in the mirror while holding a large bottle of rum. Additional documents were also published alongside the photographs. Reuters says that a Justice Department official confirmed that Patel’s email had indeed been breached, and said the material published online appeared to be authentic. The news agency claims that Reuters reviewed a sample of the uploaded material, which appeared to contain a mix of personal and work-related correspondence dating from 2010 to 2019.The news agency, however, says that they were unable to independently authenticate the emails but the personal Gmail address that Handala claims to have broken into matches an address linked to Patel in previous data breaches, according to records preserved by dark web intelligence firm District 4 Labs.Meanwhile, several accounts on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) have started to post photos purportedly from the breach and a message from Handala.
Read hackers’ full message
Kash Patel current director of the FBI Hacked2026-03-27Today, once again, the world witnessed the collapse of America’s so-called security legends. While the FBI proudly seized our domains and immediately announced a $10 million reward for the heads of Handala Hack members, we decided to respond to this ridiculous show in a way that will be rememberedKash Patel, the current head of the FBI, who once saw his name displayed with pride on the agency’s headquarters, will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims. The so-called “impenetrable” systems of the FBI were brought to their knees within hours by our team. All personal and confidential information of Kash Patel, including emails, conversations, documents, and even classified files, is now available for public download.This is the security that the U.S. government boasts about?! This is the cyber giant that thinks threats and bribes can silence the voice of resistance?! To the whole world, we declare: the FBI is just a name, and behind this name, there is no real security. If your director can be compromised this easily, what do you expect from your lower-level employees?Dedicated to the martyrs of the Dena destroyer.This is just our beginning…
Who is Handala
Handala describes itself as a group of pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers. As recently as March 11, Handala claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Stryker, a Michigan-based medical devices and services company, alleging it had deleted a massive trove of the company’s data and disrupting the firm’s operations for approximately a week.
