A pro-Iranian hacking group has claimed responsibility for breaching FBI Director Kash Patel's personal email account and publishing personal documents and photographs online. The group, known as Handala, posted more than 300 emails along with photos and what appears to be Patel's resume on Friday.

The FBI confirmed that "malicious actors" targeted Patel's personal email account, though the bureau noted that the exposed information was historical and not government-related. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Patel's personal email account had been breached, though it remains unclear when the hack occurred.

Handala posted a message stating that Patel, "who once saw his name displayed with pride on the agency's headquarters, will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims." The group also declared "This is just our beginning." The published materials included photographs of Patel with an antique sports car and smoking a cigar, along with documents that appeared to relate to personal travels and business from more than a decade ago.

News reports from December 2024 indicated that Patel had been informed by the FBI that he had been targeted as part of an Iranian hacking campaign. Handala is described as a pro-Iranian, pro-Palestinian hacking group that operates as a proxy for Iran's government.

The Justice Department recently announced it had seized four web domains tied to Iranian hacking schemes. Handala previously claimed responsibility for disrupting systems at Stryker, a Michigan-based medical technology company, earlier this month in what they described as retaliation for suspected U.S. strikes.