FBI arrests key suspect in major hack of agents’ data

CNN · CBS News and CBS News report that the FBI has taken another suspect into custody in the breach of its recruiting website, a hack that exposed personal information about bureau employees. FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest Friday, saying it came days after other actions against the same network. He gave no name or location. CBS News, through a U. S. official and another source, places the arrest in Pennsylvania, and CNN says the New York Times broke that news.

CBS News adds that a law enforcement source described the suspect as a Canadian citizen thought to be directly involved, with other co-conspirators still free. CNN's sources say the investigation into additional participants continues. The group ShinyHunters claimed the intrusion. According to CNN, staff in sensitive China and Russia units were identified in the data. CBS News says the hackers claimed 2 to 3 terabytes, taken through a flaw in Oracle PeopleSoft, and that some veteran agents call it possibly the worst federal system breach since 2015.

Both outlets say Brett Leatherman, who leads the FBI's cyber work, announced that a contractor failed to apply a security patch and has been removed.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · CBS News and CBS News’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · CBS News → Also at CBS News →