27/03/2026
Major cyber news alert! 🚨 The FBI Director's personal Gmail account has reportedly been hacked by Iran-linked groups, with sensitive information now leaked online.
The leaked materials, totaling approximately 800 megabytes, include personal photographs, Patel's purported resume, and hundreds of emails primarily spanning from 2010 to 2019.
Handala describes itself as a pro-Palestinian vigilante hacking group and is believed by Western cybersecurity researchers to be one of several online personas operated by Iranian government cyberintelligence units.
Who Operates Behind the Handala?
Elements of the group’s leadership have also surfaced publicly. Iranian researcher Nariman Gharib connected the operation to a cyber unit inside the MOIS counter-terrorism division led by Yahya Hosseini Panjaki, a deputy minister sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in September 2024, later by the EU and the UK, and listed on the FBI terrorism watch list.
Geographically, Israel remains the primary focus. However, following the February 28, 2026 U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iranian targets (Operation Epic Fury), the group expanded its targeting. Claimed victims have included Jordan’s fuel infrastructure, Bank of Jordan, Sharjah Airport, Riyadh Bank, Israeli energy firms, and the Academy of the Hebrew Language, while Western organizations in the United States and United Kingdom have also faced increasing exposure.
