FBI Director Kash Patel's Emails Hacked by Iran

Cybersecurity hygiene is apparently only for the little people

Kash Patels sniffs a cigar in hacked photo

There’s a joke among cybersecurity geeks that they changed their password to “incorrect” so whenever they forget it, the computer reminds them: “Your password is incorrect.” Evidently FBI Director Kash Patel did something similar because the Iranians managed to hack his personal email.

Patel, who is fond of jogging and other workout routines with new Bureau employees to demonstrate discipline, should exercise some when it comes to computers. The FBI more than any agency knows that they are a target of these hacks. Today, Iranian actors, perhaps even Iranian intelligence itself masquerading as the Handala Hack Team, released a slew of emails and photos that it says were hacked from the top lawman in America’s email.

The FBI has confirmed that Patel’s email had been targeted, with spokesman Ben Williamson saying in a statement: “We have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity.”

Can a pooh-bah of national security, the very Cardinal of all things cybersecurity, be so stupid? Looks like it!

The FBI loves to lecture people, from teachers and parents to corporations and government workers, about the virtues of cybersecurity.

FBI public service announcement

Cybersecurity hygiene — those annoying (and largely pointless) training sessions your employer gives you, for example — is apparently only for the little people.

Something always bugged me about “See something, say something,” the post-9/11 government urging of the public to pay attention to and report suspicious activities. It’s not just the creepiness of deputizing everyone into the national security state and whipping up a vibe of paranoia. It’s the shamelessness of a multibillion-dollar agency telling us to do its job for them for free. A job they don’t even do themselves, judging from the Patel hack.

Speaking of not doing their jobs, the news media (or at least Reuters) seems to have gotten the leak, and there was a link to the documents, but it has since been taken down. So much for digging into Patel’s life and views to see if there’s anything newsworthy.

Below are the materials I could find.

Oh, and the FBI has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Handala hackers. Guess we’re all paying for the FBI’s fuckup.

— Edited by William M. Arkin