Hackers claim to have stolen data on ‘almost all FBI agents’

ShinyHunters said it also obtained information on individuals who had applied to work at the agency

Published 22 Sep, 2026 21:46 |

The cybercriminal group ShinyHunters has claimed it breached the FBI and stole terabytes of sensitive personal information about nearly all of the agency’s agents and their spouses, as well as people who had applied for jobs there.

ShinyHunters is a prolific hacking and extortion group linked to large-scale data thefts targeting major companies and government organizations. The FBI itself warned about the group in May.

“We have compromised the FBI. We hold very sensitive data on almost ALL FBI Agents and individuals who filed an application with the FBI,” the group announced on its dark-web leak site on Tuesday. It reportedly released a sample of the purportedly stolen data and a screenshot of a defaced FBI recruitment website.

The group claimed tohave taken terabytes of information, including names, home addresses and phone numbers. Reuters reported that it was able to find apparent matches for some individuals contained in a sample of the data, but could not establish that the information had actually been taken from FBI systems.

The FBI has not confirmed the breach or the scale of the alleged data theft. However, a spokesperson allegedly told 404 Media that the bureau was “aware of claims regarding unauthorized activity affecting FBIjobs.gov and is currently investigating.” The agency’s jobs website and special-agent applicant portal were temporarily unavailable on Tuesday.

According to ShinyHunters, the intrusion began with thecompromise of an Oracle PeopleSoft server, which runs software commonly used by human resources departments. The hackers claimed they were then able to move into anAmazon-hosted government cloud environmentcontaining FBI personnel and applicant data. Neither the FBI nor the companies involved have publicly confirmed that account.

The hackers said the attack was “not financially motivated.” Instead, they are demanding that the FBI remove a cybersecurity advisory published in May that ShinyHunters says contains false allegations about the group.

In that advisory, the FBI accused hackers associated with ShinyHunters of using threats, harassment and, in some instances, swatting to target victims, while also warning that cybercriminals sometimes exaggerate the scale of data they have obtained.

ShinyHunters has not said what it plans to do with the purportedly stolen information if the FBI refuses its demand.

https://www.rt.com/news/646109-fbi-hackers-agents-data/

Iran offers to reopen Strait of Hormuz – media

The key waterway has been largely closed to commercial shipping since the start of the US-Israeli war on Tehran in February

Published 22 Sep, 2026 15:45

The Strait of Hormuz could reopen within seven days if the US eases military pressure and lifts its blockade of Iranian ports, according to media reports citing a senior Iranian official.

The strait is one of the world’s most important energy routes, normally carrying around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Shipping has largely stopped since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in late February, disrupting supplies and driving energy prices higher.

Tehran has proposed that Washington declare its readiness to resolve the conflict through diplomacy and agree on a timeline for further steps, the official told Reuters on Tuesday. The proposal was conveyed to the US through mediators last week as world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly.

The event is a “golden opportunity for the US to return to diplomacy,” the official said, adding that the Iranian delegation had full authority to revive negotiations. US Secretary of State MarcoRubio told NBC that the administration was prepared to speak with Tehran if negotiations had the prospect of producing a positive outcome.

The official noted thatthere were no plansfor Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump to meet directly at the General Assembly, although Trump signaled on Sunday that he would be open to such a meeting.

Iran has set broader conditions for ending the conflict. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said on Saturday thatTehran had conveyed seven demands to Washington through mediators, including an end to hostilities, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the lifting of the naval blockade.

Previous attempts to halt the fighting have been fruitless. A memorandum of understanding agreed by the US and Iran in June was followed by renewed hostilities, while no face-to-face talks are known to have taken place since July.

US government data show that oil flows through Hormuz fell from 21.6 million barrels per day in the final quarter of 2025 to 4.9 million in the second quarter of this year.

Tensions rose again this week after Trump said he was in “deciding mode” over Iran and weighing further military action, economic pressure, or a deal. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded by warning that another US attack would prompt Tehran to expand the scope of the conflict and use different weapons.

Washington has also threatened further economic pressure. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that companies providing Iranian airlines with fuel, airport services, or ticketing could be denied access to the US dollar system.

https://www.rt.com/news/646093-iran-hormuz-reopening-us/

AfD is Germany’s new ‘people’s party’ – co-leader

Alice Weidel has said it has replaced Chancellor Merz’s CDU in this role after the latter’s historic defeat in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Published 22 Sep, 2026 04:22 | Updated 22 Sep, 2026 05:29

The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) has replaced Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) as the ‘people’s party’ in Germany, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel has said. Her comment came after the CDU suffered a crushing defeat in Sunday’s regional election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, failing to even clear the 5% threshold.

Speaking on Monday, Weidel said theCDU was pummeled in the polls because it had implemented left-wing policies while professing to be a conservative party. Commenting on the Christian Democrats’ poor showing in Berlin, where the Left Party came out on top with a projected 25.7% of the vote, the AfD co-leader said that this was the direct result of the CDU’s “particularly ‘intelligent’ firewall policy.” The term refers to the party’s refusal to cooperate with the AfD under any circumstances, a policy that has led to the formation of unwieldy coalitions between the Christian Democrats and left-leaning parties.

“The CDU will never again win a federal election,” Weidel predicted.

The other AfD co-chair, Tino Chrupalla, similarly characterized the CDU as a “pseudo-conservative” party.

“We have pulverized the CDU,” he said, commenting on the AfD’s triumph in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday, where the right-wing party finished first with 38.2% of the vote, according to preliminary results.

“The blue wave is unstoppable,” Chrupalla said, referring to his party’s colors. The AfD co-leader also predicted that his party would replicate its recent electoral successes in further regional votes.

Germans are “hoping for a political turnaround in this country, not merely a change of personnel,” he argued, adding that the resignation of Chancellor Merz was “long overdue.”

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD managed to garner 21.5 percentage points more than in the previous election, in 2021. Chrupalla described the result as proof that the AfD “clearly have the mandate to govern here.”

With just 4.9% of the vote, Merz’s CDU, by contrast, failed to even make it into the state parliament.

While the chancellor acknowledged that his party’s showing was a “disaster,” he refused to step down.

Although the Christian Democrats’ performance in Berlin was less dismal, at 18.8%, it still represented a serious drop from the 28.2% the CDU won in 2023.

The CDU’s latest setbacks came just two weeks after the party finished a distant second with 17.2% of the vote in the regional election in Saxony-Anhalt. The AfD secured a resounding victory in the eastern region with 43.8% of the vote.

https://www.rt.com/news/646061-germany-afd-peoples-party/