Inside the Devastating Hack of the F.B.I.

A little over a decade ago, after hackers broke into the U.S. government and stole the personnel records of millions of federal workers, officials vowed that it would never happen again. Something similar recently did — to the F.B.I.


Dustin Volz, who covers cybersecurity for The New York Times, tells the story of the attack, the group behind it and what could happen to the stolen data.


Guest: Dustin Volz, a cybersecurity and intelligence reporter for The New York Times.


Background reading: 

• The hackers said they had stolen thousands of sensitive F.B.I. personnel records (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/us/politics/fbi-hack-shinyhunters-data.html) .
• The embarrassing breach at the F.B.I. has fueled fears (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/us/politics/fbi-shinyhunters-damage.html) of harm to its employees.

Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press






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