Iran-linked hackers have broken into the personal email account of former US national security official Kash Patel, leaking more than 300 emails and a trove of personal photos online, according to the FBI and material reviewed by Reuters this week. The cache, published by a group calling itself Handala Hack Team, includes years of correspondence and images apparently intended to embarrass Patel rather than expose state secrets.
For starters, Kash Patel is a former senior aide in Donald Trump's White House and at the Pentagon, and a prominent pro-Trump media figure since leaving government. His name and a matching Gmail address had surfaced in earlier data breaches, but this is the first time hackers openly claim to have rifled through his inbox and curated the contents for public release. The FBI has confirmed the breach, while stressing that the compromised data is 'historical in nature' and does not involve government systems or classified material.
