One of the leaders of the hacker group that breached the FBI website arrested

Dutch police arrested one of the leaders of the ShinyHunters organization in Amsterdam, which hacked the FBI's recruitment portal. The suspect, aged 24, is accused of extorting tens of millions of dollars and soliciting a double murder. The FBI issued a warning to the remaining members of the network.

Dutch police arrested one of the leaders of the ShinyHunters criminal organization in Amsterdam, a hacker group that carried out cyberattacks against hundreds of corporations and breached the FBI's recruitment portal. The suspect, a 24-year-old, is accused of extorting tens of millions of dollars and soliciting a double murder. According to reports by Reuters and Krebs on Security, the arrested individual is Pepijn van der Stap, a convicted cybercriminal sentenced in 2023 for data theft and extortion. The investigation links him to hacks of companies such as Ticketmaster, Rockstar Games, and the FBI recruitment site. The arrest follows a case published last week, in which the group breached the FBIJobs.gov portal by exploiting a security vulnerability in Oracle's PeopleSoft software. The hackers leaked approximately 5,000 records containing personal information of FBI agents and Department of Justice employees. The FBI issued a warning to the remaining network members, and FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed it is a large-scale operation.