A foreign hacker infiltrated a server at the FBI’s New York Field Office containing files related to the investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during a break-in three years ago, according to newly disclosed Justice Department documents and a source familiar with the matter.
The details of who accessed a server at the FBI’s New York Field Office, including the allegation that a foreign hacker was involved, are being reported here for the first time.
In a statement, the FBI said what it described as a "cyber incident" was "an isolated one."
"The FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and rectified the network. The investigation remains ongoing, so we do not have further comments to provide at this time." Although the source said the intrusion appeared to have been carried out by a cybercriminal rather than a foreign government, the incident underscores the files' potential intelligence value, one academic said. The legally mandated publication of U.S. Justice Department documents has exposed the dead sex trafficker's ties to prominent people in politics, finance, academia and business, triggering investigations in countries around the world.
"Who wouldn’t be going after the Epstein files if you’re the Russians or somebody interested in kompromat?” said Jon Lindsay, who researches the role of emerging technology in global security at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "If foreign intelligence agencies are not thinking seriously about the Epstein files as a target, then I would be shocked.” The breach was reported contemporaneously by CNN and Reuters on Feb. 17; the connection to Epstein materials was made by the French magazine Marianne. Epstein, a longtime associate of President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges, including soliciting an underage girl. He was found hanged in his jail cell in 2019, in what was ruled a suicide, after being arrested again on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors.
