Third Arrest Reported Over ShinyHunters Breach of FBI Jobs Portal

FBI Director Kash Patel said on October 9 that the FBI has arrested another suspected co-conspirator of ShinyHunters, the extortion group that said in September it had breached the FBI's jobs portal and stolen sensitive data on almost all FBI agents and job applicants. The suspect has not been named and no charges are public. The New York Times and CBS News, both citing unnamed sources, report the person is a Canadian citizen arrested in Pennsylvania. A law enforcement source told CBS News the suspect is believed to have been directly involved in the hack, though Patel's post does not say so, and the FBI declined to comment on the Times report.

Reuters counts this as the third arrest made public since news of the breach broke in late September. A man was arrested in the Netherlands a week before ShinyHunters announced the breach on September 22. The FBI describes him as one of the group's alleged leaders, but ShinyHunters told The Hacker News he has no association with it. Another suspect, Khader, detained in Jordan, is reportedly cooperating with the FBI. The FBI has not said whether the latest arrest resulted from that cooperation. Other suspected co-conspirators remain free.

A sample of the data shared by the group contained extensive personal information on FBI employees, details of sensitive job roles, and psychiatric and medical information, according to a Reuters analysis. An internal FBI notice confirmed that hackers obtained employee information, a source told CBS News.