FBI director’s email reportedly hacked by Iran-linked group
FBI Director Kash Patel’s email account was reportedly hacked by an Iran-linked group on Friday, but nothing extremely sensitive seems to have been compromised.
by Summer Lane | March 27, 2026
Iran-linked hacker group, the Handala Hack Team, has reportedly hacked into the email of FBI Director Kash Patel and disseminated some of his private information online, according to reports.
The information appearing online appears to be fairly tame, and includes the director’s alleged personal photographs, including snapshots of him in different locations, smoking a cigar.
A Department of Justice official confirmed to Reuters that Patel’s email had been breached, and said that the data posted online “appeared authentic.” According to the outlet, Handala has been linked to “pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers” and may even be part of an Iranian government operation.
In a press release from the Department of Justice just last week, Handala was part of a four-part domain seizure implemented by the agency.
“Iran thought they could hide behind fake websites and keyboard threats to terrorize Americans and silence dissidents,” said FBI Director Kash Patel in a statement.
He added, “We took down four of their operation’s pillars and we’re not done. This FBI will hunt down every actor behind these cowardly death threats and cyberattacks and will bring the full force of American law enforcement down on them.”
It appears that Handala’s alleged hack of the FBI director’s email may have been a retaliatory action following the DOJ’s commitment to go after Iranian cyber and hacking operations.
This, of course, also comes amid the United States’ ongoing war against Iran, which is now about to enter its fourth week.
As of Friday morning, Patel had not publicly commented on the situation.
Yesterday, Patel announced the indictment of a Chinese brother and sister in relation to an alleged IED plot at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida – the site of the U.S. Central Command and the U.S. Special Operations Command.
CENTCOM is the heartbeat of the U.S. military’s operation against the Iranian regime.
Photo: Adobe Stock
