A 24-year-old man from Amsterdam has been arrested by Dutch police on suspicion of having links to the international cybercrime group ShinyHunters, which claims to have obtained sensitive data belonging to around 38,000 FBI employees.
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Authorities in the Netherlands announced that the arrest was carried out on September 15 and that the suspect remains in custody. The operation took place before the suspected attack on FBI systems, reported on September 21.
Investigators also suspect that the 24-year-old attempted to solicit the commission of two murders outside the Netherlands. During a search of his electronic devices, they found a significant amount of information, including data related to two suspected murders that were to be carried out abroad.
FBI Director Kash Patel expressed his gratitude to the Dutch authorities and said that U.S. teams are working with international partners to pursue other investigative leads.
Meanwhile, FBI Deputy Director for Cyber Investigations Brett Leatherman called on members of ShinyHunters to surrender. Dutch police have left open the possibility of further arrests during the investigation.
Last week, ShinyHunters claimed that it had breached FBI systems and obtained the personal data of around 38,000 agency employees.
The group claimed that the data included the names, positions, identification numbers, home addresses and telephone numbers of agents.
According to ShinyHunters, access to the FBI systems was obtained on September 21. The following day, the group began sending journalists samples and screenshots of the information it claimed to have stolen.
ShinyHunters said it exploited a vulnerability in Oracle’s cloud system, used by the FBI, to gain access to some of the agency’s systems.
The systems the group claims were affected include FBIJOBS, which is linked to background checks for employees and applicants; MedLink, where agents’ medical records are stored; and BICS, which contains investigative information.
