FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email has been hacked by an Iran-backed group, the Department of Justice confirmed on Friday.
The group, called Handala Hack Team, posted personal photos and other documents including a purported resume to its website, claiming the files were taken directly from Patel’s inbox.
Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims,” the group’s website said.
A Justice Department official confirmed the hack and said material posted online “appeared to be authentic,” Reuters reported Friday.
Handala describes itself as a pro-Palestinian entity that’s believed to be part of the Iranian government’s cyberintelligence units.
Former CIA director John Brennan told MS NOW that he wasn’t surprised by the breach because Iran has “very, very sophisticated” cyber capabilities.
“I’m sure that the war ongoing right now with Iran has led to an increase in their efforts and determination to target a number of individuals with their cyber hacks and capabilities,” Brennan said. “So, again, I’m unsurprised that the Iranians are engaged in such activities. We’ve had to face it for the past 10 or 15 years in terms of what the Iranians have been able to do. And given that, you know, the FBI director is a high profile target, it’s again, not surprising that the Iranians would do something like this. But again, I have to underscore just how sophisticated the Iranians have become and their ability to do things like this. ”
MS NOW’s Alex Witt asked Brennan if he had any concerns that the breach “goes beyond just being an embarrassment for Kash Patel, and that could enter the realm of of compromising national security?”
“Well, again, it depends on what the Iranians have been able to access, whether it’s against Kash Patel or others, and to see whether or not what they have been able to obtain gives them some type of insight into national security matters,” Brennan said. “But again, the reporting is that these were older emails from Kash Patel. So again, it’s unclear exactly what the Iranians might have. But again, I think other officials need to be extra-vigilant during these times.
The FBI hasn’t commented on the breach thus far.
Watch the clip above via MS NOW.
This is a developing story and has been updated.
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