Iran-Linked Hackers Claim FBI Drone Breach, Threaten 2026 World Cup

A hacker group with ties to Iran claims it infiltrated FBI surveillance drones and threatened to target the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.

Iran-Linked Hackers Claim FBI Drone Breach, Threaten 2026 World Cup

A hacker collective calling itself Handala, which has connections to Iran, announced on Friday that it had compromised unmanned aerial vehicles belonging to the FBI and issued threats against the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The SITE Intelligence Group, a private organization that monitors online extremist activity, published a statement from Handala. The group asserted it had captured "every image and every suspect" from the Bureau's drones "for months."

According to the statement, the hackers gained access to aircraft equipped with facial recognition systems and first-person-view traffic plate readers. These devices were developed for counter-terrorism operations.

"Better strengthen your World Cup security. We actually don't like some of these teams. Remember: FPVs are everywhere. You never know when someone might be on your team bus," Handala declared, as cited by SITE.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation develops drone technology and prohibits uncrewed aerial vehicle flights over American stadiums hosting World Cup matches, as well as over parallel events organized alongside the tournament.

The United States Department of Justice had already warned about the danger of cyberattacks carried out by Iranian actors following American-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February, which intensified the conflict in the Middle East.

Handala published photographs and video footage that it claimed were obtained from the compromised drones, though SITE questioned this assertion. One video of the alleged breach was actually created by a software platform in December 2024 to promote the technology's use by a U.S. police department, with the aim of tracking damage caused by a tornado, SITE clarified.

Source: Politis

Source: Politis