Exclusive-Accenture contractor removed from FBI following damaging data breach, sources say

The Federal Bureau of Investigation removed an Accenture contractor on Monday following a data breach that exposed sensitive information belonging to thousands of bureau employees, according to two sources familiar with the incident. In a statement to Reuters, a senior FBI official confirmed that the breach occurred due to the contractor's failure to apply a critical security patch to the system they were responsible for.

FBI cyber chief Brett Leatherman stated in the statement that the incident resulted from a security lapse in a platform managed by a third-party organization - after the contractor neglected to implement the security patch explicitly issued to secure the platform. The FBI has subsequently removed the contractor and taken all necessary measures to mitigate any further risk and safeguard its workforce.

While the FBI did not disclose the platform or the third-party organization, two sources familiar with the matter revealed that the platform was Oracle's PeopleSoft, a human resources platform that the hacking group ShinyHunters claimed to have exploited to infiltrate the FBI's job site last month. Oracle declined to comment on the incident.

The sources also identified the third-party organization as Accenture, although Reuters was unable to confirm the identity of the specific contractor or their current employment status. Accenture responded by expressing its pride in supporting the FBI's mission and its commitment to continue doing so, but the company did not provide any additional information regarding the contractor or the alleged breach.