In 2023, unidentified foreign hackers broke into the FBI field office in New York and compromised files related to the bureau's investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to Reuters.
Citing sources familiar with the breach and court documents, the newswire reported that the hack exploited a server at the FBI New York Field Office's Child Exploitation Forensic Laboratory that was inadvertently left vulnerable by the FBI special agent assigned to the case. The breach “included reviewing certain files related to the Epstein investigation,” according to court documents.
An FBI spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing. “Following the 2023 cyber incident, the FBI contained the affected network and determined the incident was isolated. The FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and remediated the network,” a spokesperson said in a statement emailed to TechCrunch.
Officials told Reuters that the hackers did not realize they had breached the FBI until agents asked them to join a video call and provided the hackers with their credentials.