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FBI warns ShinyHunters members to come forward after alleged leader’s arrest

Brett Leatherman urged the hackers to surrender as the bureau investigates a breach that may have exposed personally identifiable information of employees.

  • On Tuesday, the FBI and Dutch National Police announced the arrest of a suspected leader of the cybercrime group ShinyHunters. Authorities detained the 24-year-old man from Amsterdam on Sept. 15 as part of a joint international operation.
  • Since last year, ShinyHunters has allegedly breached more than 140 organizations and collected at least $70 million in extortion payments. The group frequently targets third-party vendors in cloud-based platforms to steal sensitive data and threaten victims.
  • Stolen FBIJobs data includes sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and addresses. ShinyHunters announced the breach last week, prompting an FBI investigation and communication with potentially impacted individuals within 24 hours.
  • Cyber Division Assistant Director Brett Leatherman urged remaining ShinyHunters members to confess to law enforcement in a video statement. "Arrests have a way of changing who is willing to talk, and seized infrastructure has a way of showing us who's left," Leatherman said.
  • Before the arrest announcement, a ShinyHunters spokesperson claimed the breach was a "marketing campaign" and committed not to publish stolen data. The FBI continues to investigate the security incident while monitoring for further threats.
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Nextgov broke the news in Washington, United States on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.
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