Iran-linked hackers breach FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email, publish excerpts online

Published March 27, 2026
The website used by the Handala Hack Team, an Iran-linked hacker group which has claimed credit for the breach of FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email, is shown on a screen in Washington DC, the US on March 27. — Reuters
The website used by the Handala Hack Team, an Iran-linked hacker group which has claimed credit for the breach of FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email, is shown on a screen in Washington DC, the US on March 27. — Reuters

Iran-linked hackers on Friday claimed they had accessed FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email inbox, publishing photographs of the director and other documents to the internet.

On their website, the hacker group Handala Hack Team said Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims”.

The hackers published a series of personal photographs of Patel sniffing and smoking cigars, riding in an antique convertible, and making a face while taking a picture of himself in the mirror with a large bottle of rum.

A Justice Department official confirmed that Patel’s email had been breached and said the material published online appeared authentic. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The hackers did not immediately respond to messages.

Handala, which calls itself a group of pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers, is considered by Western researchers to be one of several personas used by Iranian government cyberintelligence units.

Handala recently claimed the hack of Michigan-based medical devices and services provider Stryker on March 11, claiming to have deleted a massive trove of company data.

Reuters was not able to independently authenticate the Patel emails, but the personal Gmail address that Handala claims to have broken into matches the address linked to Patel in previous data breaches preserved by the dark web intelligence firm District 4 Labs. Alphabet-owned Google, which runs Gmail, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A sample of the material uploaded by the hackers and reviewed by Reuters appears to show a mix of personal and work correspondence dating between 2010 and 2019.

Opinion

Editorial

Growth below target
15 May, 2026

Growth below target

Pakistan lacks the export-oriented industrial expansion that has driven sustained high growth in other economies.
Limited openings
15 May, 2026

Limited openings

FOR years, even the smallest suggestion of engagement with Pakistan would trigger outrage in India’s political...
Meetings denied
15 May, 2026

Meetings denied

FORMER prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, continue to be held incommunicado inside Adiala Jail....
Trump in Beijing
Updated 14 May, 2026

Trump in Beijing

China is no longer just a rising economic power.
Growing numbers
14 May, 2026

Growing numbers

FORWARD-looking nations do not just celebrate their advantages; they turn them into tangible gains. They also ...
No culling
14 May, 2026

No culling

CRUELTY implies an administrative failure to adopt humane solutions. Despite the Lahore High Court’s orders to use...