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The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating potential cyber activity on their network. The agency stated that they have already contained the issue and are currently assessing the extent of the damage.
The FBI has not released any additional details as the investigation is ongoing.
The FBI is aware of the incident and is working to gain additional information. (…) This is an isolated incident that has been contained. As this is an ongoing investigation the FBI does not have further comment to provide at this time.
CNN reported on Friday that the incident involved a New York Field Office computer system, which is used for investigating child sexual exploitation. FBI’s New York Field Office is one of the bureau’s largest and most well-known offices.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the FBI has fallen victim to cybercrime. In December 2022 the FBI’s InfraGard US Critical Infrastructure Intelligence portal was hacked, and the massive database containing the contact information of high-profile private sector individuals was advertised for sale in a thread on the Breached cybercrime forum.
In November 2021, the FBI’s email servers were also compromised and used to distribute spam messages impersonating FBI warnings. After the hack, the threat actors sent tens of thousands of these spam messages in multiple waves from eims@ic.fbi.gov, a real email address linked to the FBI’s Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal (LEEP).
SpamHaus, an organization that tracks spam, says that these emails have reached at least 100,000 mailboxes, but this is a very low estimate because the campaign “was potentially much, much larger.” The FBI confirmed at the time that this was caused by a temporary software misconfiguration and that no data or personal information was compromised.
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Madalina, a seasoned digital content creator at Heimdal®, blends her passion for cybersecurity with an 8-year background in PR & CSR consultancy. Skilled in making complex cyber topics accessible, she bridges the gap between cyber experts and the wider audience with finesse.
