Feds warns hackers after ShinyHunters arrest over FBI jobsite data breach - USA Today
The FBI announced the arrest of a suspected member of the digital hacking group ShinyHunters, accused of stealing personnel data from the FBI's jobsite last week, and issued a warning to the cybercriminals.
""You know how to find us, and we know how to find you. I suggest you reach out first while the choice is still yours, FBI Assistant Director Brett Leatherman said Sept. 29 in a video address following the recent arrest of a Dutch man in connection with the ShinyHunters investigation.
"Other groups believed anonymity or their friends would protect them, and they were wrong," Leatherman who works with the FBI's Cyber Division, said. "You know how to find us, and we know how to find you. I suggest you reach out first while the choice is still yours."
FBI Director Kash Patel, in a post on X, did not name the person arrested in a joint operation with Dutch National Police, but said they are one of the alleged leaders of ShinyHunters − what he called "a global cybercrime and threat actor group linked to cyberattacks in the United States, the Netherlands, and around the world."
"Since last year, this cybercriminal and his co-conspirators have allegedly breached more than 140 organizations and taken at least $70 million in extortion payments," Letterman said, adding the group often targets third-party vendors in cloud-based platforms, stealing sensitive data and extorting victims with threats to publish it.
"To the remaining members of ShinyHunters... Arrests have a way of changing who is willing to talk, and seized infrastructure has a way of showing us who's left," Letterman said. "The longer you stay in this, the more we learn about you."
Officials have not said how the group gained access to FBIjobs.gov. But Reuters previously reported an internal memo distributed across the FBI said officials were operating under the assumption all current and former employees had been exposed.
USA TODAY has reached out to the FBI and Dutch police for more information.
Patel said the FBI continues to hunt down leads and investigate the case.
A day earlier, in a statement posted on X, Dutch police said they arrested a 24-year-old man suspected of playing a role with ShinyHunters and said he was in due in court on Sept. 29.
Police also did not name the man, but Reuters reported Benjamin Korper of Amsterdam-based cybersecurity company Neo Security said it was Pepijn van der Stap, the company's offensive security lead. Korper said Dutch investigators visited his office Sept. 15 - the same day van der Stap was arrested in a police raid that involved flash bang grenades.
In an unrelated investigation to ShinyHunters, officials said the man was also suspected of attempting to instigate two killings abroad, according to an updated post from Dutch police Sept 29. Officials did not release additional details about that separate case.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
