
Suspected ShinyHunters Hacker Detained in Jordan, Cooperating With FBI Investigation
(CBS) – A suspected member of the notorious ShinyHunters hacking group has been detained in Jordan and is reportedly cooperating with U.S. investigators, according to American officials. The group claimed responsibility last month for defacing the FBI’s website.
Jordanian authorities took Saif al-Din Khader into custody earlier this week, two U.S. officials and another individual familiar with the investigation told CBS News.
ShinyHunters has been tied to several high-profile cyberattacks and data breaches. Last month, the group claimed, without independent public confirmation, that it had obtained personal information belonging to every FBI employee. Investigators have not determined how many individuals may have participated in the alleged breach, a U.S. source told CBS News.
The FBI declined to discuss Khader’s arrest directly but issued a statement saying: “the Bureau continues to aggressively investigate the recent Cyber incident allegedly involving ShinyHunters, having already worked with partners to arrest multiple subjects and we will spare no resource in bringing each of the responsible individuals to justice.”
Reuters was the first to report Khader’s detention.
In communications posted on the dark web and shared with multiple media outlets last month, ShinyHunters claimed it had stolen between two and three terabytes of data related to FBI employees. The group alleged it exploited a vulnerability in Oracle PeopleSoft, a human resources management platform.
A second suspected member, a 24-year-old Amsterdam resident, was arrested on September 15 on suspicion of belonging to the group, according to Dutch police and the FBI. His arrest came days before ShinyHunters publicly claimed it had breached the FBI’s employment website. 404 Media first reported the alleged breach on September 22.
Dutch authorities did not release the suspect’s name, but sources familiar with the investigation confirmed to CBS News that he was Pepijn van der Stap.
In a statement to Reuters, ShinyHunters denied Van der Stap had any connection to the group, saying he had “no association” with the organization and describing Dutch police as incompetent.