Thousands of special FBI agents’ medical data have been stolen by cyber criminals in what is being described as one of the most “serious” data breaches, putting law enforcement’s identity at risk.
The FBI acknowledged that the major breach occurred on Wednesday, a day after the notorious hacking group ShinyHunters released a statement claiming it obtained the names, addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth of all employees at the agency, as well as their spouses, writing ominously on the FBI’s website, “This site has been seized by ShinyHunters.” The FBI said it is “aggressively investigating” the cyber attack.
Now, a fresh report from the BBC, released Friday, claims the hackers also stole “fitness-for-work” data on agents of all ranks, including doctors’ notes detailing medical conditions, ranging from a “shellfish and banana allergy” to “high cholesterol” and “blood in the urine.” Senior officials such as deputy directors at the FBI are among those whose data was leaked.
The hacking group released some data samples they stole, along with demands. They said, “What we plan to do is not something I’d call extortion, maybe coercion,” adding that their plans were not “financially motivated.”
Details about the cyber breach were reportedly made available on the hacker’s darknet as early as Monday, when the group claims to have hacked the FBI.
Experts note that it is unusual that the hackers are not requesting financial compensation. Rather, they have demanded that the FBI retract an advisory report from May that “offended” the group.
Experts have warned that the hack will leave agents primed for potential scams, blackmail and targeted attacks. Worst-case scenario, the cyber criminals can even steal the identity of the law enforcement officers.
Jamie Akhtar, chief executive and co-founder of CyberSmart, is among several experts who have warned of the severity of the attack.
“Such data could be used for highly convincing phishing, impersonation, identity fraud, blackmail or even operations targeting law-enforcement personnel, making the potential implications particularly serious,” he told the BBC.
Now, the agents’ sensitive medical data will remain “compromised for good,” underscoring the severity of the attack.
“The list maps thousands of agents against their medical and fitness records,” said Etay Maor, vice-president of threat intelligence at Cato Networks, per the BBC report.
“Passwords can be reset if stolen, but medical records cannot, so once this data is out, it stays compromised for good. That permanence, applied across an entire workforce, is what makes this leak so serious.”
Professor Ciaran Martin, the former head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Center, also described the hack as “as serious as it gets when it comes to data breaches.”
Some of the agents whose data was hacked were allegedly investigating matters pertaining to Russia, China, and drug cartels, Reuters reports. A lesser-known FBI hacking unit’s data may have also been included in the leak, according to 404 Media.
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