On March 27, 2026, the Iran-linked hacking group Handala published approximately 800 megabytes of data stolen from FBI Director Kash Patel's personal Gmail account — including over 300 emails and personal photographs. A Justice Department official confirmed to Reuters that the email was compromised and the posted material appeared authentic.
The FBI Director of the United States had his personal email hacked by a foreign adversary's intelligence service during an active military conflict with that same adversary. The DOJ has formally attributed Handala to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
Patel had been warned in late 2024 — before he even agreed to lead the FBI — that he was an Iranian hacking target. The Gmail address was already known from older dark web data breaches. Despite these warnings, his personal email remained vulnerable. A 2014 email in the leak showed Patel CC'ing his personal Gmail from his DOJ and FBI email addresses, raising questions about interconnection between personal and government accounts.
The hack was retaliatory. On March 19, Patel had personally announced the DOJ seizure of four Handala domains, boasting: “We took down four of their operation's pillars and we're not done. This FBI will hunt down every actor behind these cowardly death threats.” Within a day, Handala restored its online presence. Eight days later, they published his emails.
Handala posted on Telegram: “The FBI shouldn't have started a confrontation and conflict with us. If your director can be compromised this easily, what do you expect from your lower-level employees?” The group subsequently issued a $50 million bounty threat against Trump and Netanyahu.
Cybersecurity expert Alex Orleans of Sublime Security told NBC News that Iran likely hacked Patel earlier and “strategically waited to release the files” — calling it “something they had sitting around” for “a rainy day.” The FBI insisted no government information was obtained, but the breach of the nation's top law enforcement official by a foreign intelligence service during wartime is itself a devastating security failure.