WASHINGTON: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is assessing a breach of its jobs portal after ShinyHunters claimed it stole personal data on thousands of current and former employees.
The stolen data includes Social Security numbers, emergency contacts and addresses, according to CNN’s reporting. People who saw the data told the outlet it also included personnel in units focused on China and Russia.
The FBI has not confirmed how many people were affected. An internal message urged employees to report safety concerns and said the bureau was operating on the assumption that hackers had data on all staff.
That is a precautionary assumption, not a verified count of exposed records. Some current and former personnel criticised the guidance and support they had received.
Read: FBI Probes ShinyHunters’ Claim of US Agent Data Theft
An FBI spokesperson said potentially affected employees received several notices during the past week. Cyber, security and victim services teams were working on the response, the spokesperson added.
ShinyHunters demanded a change to an earlier FBI advisory describing the group’s extortion tactics. It now claims it never intended to publish the stolen data.
Agents remain concerned that exposed addresses could put them or their families at risk. Separately, the FBI announced on Tuesday that Dutch authorities had arrested an alleged ShinyHunters leader.
Read: Thomas Crooks FBI Documents Renew Butler Shooting Questions
Dutch officials said they arrested the 24-year-old man on September 15 and that he would remain in pretrial detention for at least another 90 days.
The FBI is assessing the extent of a jobs portal breach after ShinyHunters claimed it stole sensitive personnel data.
