FBI confirms it's investigating a cyber incident on its own network

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has confirmed that it's investigating malicious cyber activity on its own network.

CNN reported on Friday that hackers compromised an FBI computer system at the agency's New York field office, citing people briefed with the matter. The brief report added that the incident involved a computer system used in investigations of images of child sexual exploitation.

In a statement given to TechCrunch, FBI spokesperson Manali Basu confirmed that the agency had contained the "isolated incident," which it continues to investigate.

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"The FBI is aware of the incident and is working to gain additional information," the spokesperson said. "This is an isolated incident that has been contained. As this is an ongoing investigation the FBI does not have further comment to provide at this time."

There remains a number of unknowns about the incident. It's not immediately clear when the intrusion occurred, or how the FBI was compromised. The nature of the incident, which doesn't appear to have yet been claimed by any major cybercriminal organization, also remains unclear at the time of publication.

The FBI declined to answer our specific questions.

This isn't the first time the FBI has been compromised. In November 2021, a threat actor compromised the FBI's external email system to send thousands of spam emails warning of a fake cyberattack to hundreds of thousands of organizations.