A SecurityWeek report says Saif al-Din Khader, known as Rey, a teenage hacker from Amman, was arrested in Jordan and is cooperating with the FBI in identifying other members of the extortion group ShinyHunters. Khader is described as the alleged leader of ShinyHunters and is also linked to the Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters group. The piece notes the arrest came shortly after ShinyHunters hacked FBIJobs[.]gov, the FBI’s jobs site, and boasted about stealing 2–3 terabytes of data.
The group reportedly sent a sample list of 5,000 FBI employees to the media, claiming to possess the personal and health information of all current and former FBI staff. The Dutch police previously announced the arrest of a 24-year-old man from Amsterdam as part of the FBI’s investigation, though that individual's identity was not disclosed by authorities.
The FBI later confirmed an arrest connected to the broader ShinyHunters investigation, stating the detainee was involved in hacking more than 140 organisations and in collecting at least $70 million in extortion payments. Independent reporting has suggested the Amsterdam suspect may be Pepijn van der Stap, who was convicted in 2023 for hacking and extortion and was on supervised release.
According to the article, Khader allegedly attributed the Dutch suspect’s 2023 activity to a current FBI hack by placing a defacement image featuring the Pokémon Umbreon. The FBI has said it is actively pursuing additional leads, with officials signalling that more arrests are possible.