Overview

• The Justice Department inspector general’s audit confirmed that a Sinaloa Cartel–linked hacker obtained call records and geolocation data from an FBI assistant legal attaché’s phone in 2018.
• The intruder also exploited Mexico City’s surveillance cameras to follow the agent through the city and identify people the agent met with.
• The cartel used the compromised information to intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential informants and cooperating witnesses.
• The report warned that advances in commercial and official data collection have lowered technical barriers and enabled criminal groups to exploit surveillance weaknesses.
• The FBI has begun implementing the audit’s recommended mitigation plan, which calls for expanded training and other measures to bolster bureau defenses against technical surveillance threats.