Above photo: Alex Brandon/AP.
The hacker group has escalated its cyber attacks since the start of the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic.
A Justice Department official confirmed on 27 March that material reportedly leaked from FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email “appears to be authentic.”
The material was leaked on Friday by Handala, a group of pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers considered to have links to Iranian government cyberintelligence units.
Handala said it had accessed FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email inbox and published photographs of the director, along with some of his private and professional correspondence.
Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims,” the hacker group announced on their website.
“The so-called ‘impenetrable’ systems of the FBI were brought to their knees within hours by our team,” the group stated, adding that all of Director Patel’s personal and confidential information, including classified files, is now available for the public to download.
🚨Cyber Alert ‼️
🇺🇸US – 𝗞𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹 (𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗕𝗜)
A U.S. official confirmed the compromise of FBI Director Kash Patel’s emails; Handala hacktivist group claims broader access, allegedly leaking emails, documents, and personal data, though most… pic.twitter.com/5YytpHXAxb
— Hackmanac (@H4ckmanac) March 27, 2026
Reuters notes that a sample of the material uploaded by the hackers shows a mix of personal and work-related messages sent by Patel between 2010 and 2019.
Hacked photographs showed Patel sniffing and smoking cigars, riding in an antique convertible car, and taking a photo of himself in the mirror with a large bottle of rum.
Since the US-Israeli war against Iran started in February, Handala has escalated its hacks.
Handala claimed on 11 March that its activists had hacked the computers of a US-based medical devices and services provider, Stryker, deleting a massive trove of the company’s data from thousands of employee devices.
Handala hacking group says a breach of the FBI is ‘coming soon’, alleges FBI director’s information has been compromised
——
The Iran-linked hacking collective Handala announced it had breached the account of FBI Director Kash Patel after the US government seized the group’s… pic.twitter.com/pvSzSVE0j8— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) March 27, 2026
The hacker group announced in early January that it had breached the mobile phone of Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s former justice minister, and obtained her private messages, documents, and other private information.
“This time, our target was none other than Ayelet Shaked, the controversial figure and so-called security champion of the Zionist regime,” Handala wrote on X.
In December, Handala claimed it had hacked the phone of a close aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and would soon publish sensitive details of corruption involving the prime minister and his inner circle.
The hacker group said it acquired the material by hacking the iPhone of Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, who was recently appointed as ambassador to the UK.
Handala also claimed to have sent Braverman’s personal information to the private email address of former prime minister Naftali Bennett.
