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THREATS TO CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN IRAN CONFLICT

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Iran-linked hackers have breached FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal emails

FBI Director Kash Patel testifies at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on September 16, 2025. (Senate Judiciary Committee)

By Evan Perez, Sean Lyngaas and Holmes Lybrand

Hackers connected to the Iranian government accessed FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email and posted materials — including photos and documents — taken from his account, a person familiar with the breach confirmed to CNN.

The hackers have published a series of photos of Patel from before he became FBI director that they claim were stolen from his personal email account. A source familiar with the incident confirmed the images’ authenticity.

The stolen emails appear to date from around 2011 to 2022 and appear to include personal, business and travel correspondence that Patel had with various contacts, according to a preliminary CNN review of the files with the help of an independent cybersecurity researcher.

Read more at CNN

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