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Alleged ShinyHunters member detained in Jordan is reportedly helping the FBI find other members

Alleged ShinyHunters member Saif al-Din Khader, detained in Jordan on Tuesday, is helping the FBI find other members, two sources told Reuters. A new ShinyHunters leak site went up two days later, suggesting other members still run the extortion.

The Watch · Security desk

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What happened

  • One source told Reuters that Khader is walking investigators through his electronic devices and digital communications.
  • ShinyHunters told BleepingComputer in September that it breached FBI systems through an alleged Oracle PeopleSoft zero-day and moved into FBI-managed AWS GovCloud.
  • Dutch police arrested a 24-year-old Amsterdam man on September 15, named by KrebsOnSecurity and DataBreaches as Pepijn van der Stap, alias Umbreon.
  • After an alleged affiliate shut down a messaging account on Tuesday, the group's leak site went offline and its main representative stopped answering reporters.

Why it matters

  • Who's exposed exposure If the Reuters sources are right, anyone whose handles or chats sit on Khader's devices is now within reach of the FBI and its international partners.
  • What it limits constraint Organizations already holding ShinyHunters extortion demands still face publication, since the group had a working leak site again within two days.
  • What it sets up precedent Earlier arrests under the ShinyHunters name did not retire it, so the realistic expectation from one cooperating suspect is more arrests while the brand keeps operating.
  • Who has to decide decision An arrest leaves the group's entry route, stolen third-party integration tokens into SaaS tenants, in place, so SaaS defenders' priority stays on which connected apps hold tokens to customer data.

Everything known about Khader's role comes from sources who spoke to Reuters without being named [2][3]. "His cooperation is critical to ongoing efforts to arrest these hackers," one of them told Reuters [5]. ShinyHunters did not respond when BleepingComputer asked about the detention [13].

The FBI has said in public how it expects one arrest to lead to the next. After the Amsterdam arrest, the bureau warned remaining members to turn themselves in and said investigators were still identifying who was involved [14]. "Arrests have a way of changing who is willing to talk, and seized infrastructure has a way of showing us who's left," Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI Cyber Division, said last week [15]. "I suggest you reach out first while the choice is still yours," he said [16].

The crackdown followed the group's attack on the bureau [12]. Most of what is known about that attack comes from ShinyHunters itself. The group said it took 2TB to 3TB, including records on current and former FBI employees and job applicants, plus medical and psychiatric information [6]. BleepingComputer has not verified the zero-day, the lateral movement or the volume [7]. The FBI has confirmed it is investigating claims of unauthorized activity but has not confirmed that data was stolen [7].

Van der Stap was not the group's public voice. The main representative kept writing to BleepingComputer after the Dutch arrest [17]. Whether this week's silence and shutdowns are tied to Khader is unclear, BleepingComputer reported [11].

The name has outlasted arrests before. Suspects connected to the Snowflake data thefts, the PowerSchool breach and the Breached v2 forum have been arrested in cases linked to ShinyHunters [22]. The group's usual method is to breach a third-party integration company and use its stolen authentication tokens to pull customer data from connected SaaS environments [20]. Recent campaigns centered on Salesforce and other cloud SaaS platforms, and breaches at Google, Cisco and PornHub have been linked to them [19]. In May, its data theft at Instructure Canvas caused platform outages. Instructure later reached an "agreement" with the attackers to keep data from a recent breach off the internet [21].

According to one source, the device review is meant to identify and locate Khader's alleged co-conspirators [4]. Nothing in the reporting mentions victim data.

What to watch

  • Jordanian or US confirmation of Khader's detention, or charges or an extradition request naming him.
  • Arrests that reach whoever runs the main representative account or the leak site that went up on Thursday.
  • Any FBI statement confirming or denying data theft in the claimed PeopleSoft and AWS GovCloud intrusion.

Clarity's read

What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.

Reality

Evidence58
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+20
Incentives60
Confidence62

Perspective Coverage

13 publishers
Builder
Builder 14%
Operator
Operator 74%
Investor
Investor 12%
Why these scores

Claim ledger

Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.

  1. [1]

    A suspected ShinyHunters member known online as "Rey" has reportedly been detained in Jordan and is cooperating with the FBI to help locate other members of the extortion group.

    Reported Supported Source: BleepingComputer, citing Reuters5 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source
  2. [2]

    According to Reuters, Jordanian authorities detained Rey, identified as Saif al-Din Khader, this week, with two sources saying he was taken into custody on Tuesday.

    Reported Supported Source: Reuters, via BleepingComputer5 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source
  3. [3]

    Two sources familiar with the arrest told Reuters that Khader is helping the FBI and international law enforcement agencies locate other group members.

    Reported Supported Source: Unnamed sources to Reuters, via BleepingComputer5 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source

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Sources

7 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.

  1. bleepingcomputer.com

    2 articles · October 3, 2026

    ShinyHunters hacker reportedly detained in Jordan, aiding FBI
  2. cbsnews.com

    1 article · October 4, 2026

    Suspected ShinyHunters hacker detained in Jordan, cooperating with FBI, sources say - CBS News
  3. csoonline.com

    1 article · October 5, 2026

    Despite ShinyHunters arrests after FBI jobs data breach, enterprises still have no answers about PeopleSoft risks | CSO Online
  4. hackread.com

    1 article · October 3, 2026

    ShinyHunters Suspect “Rey” Detained in Jordan, Reportedly Helping FBI
  5. helpnetsecurity.com

    1 article · October 5, 2026

    Detained ShinyHunters hacker reportedly helping FBI track down fellow members
  6. krebsonsecurity.com

    1 article · October 7, 2026

    ShinyHunters Extorted Boeing Spin-off Prior to Arrests
  7. malwarebytes.com

    1 article · October 7, 2026

    Another ShinyHunters suspect arrested
  8. pcmag.com

    1 article · October 4, 2026

    Hacker Linked to ShinyHunters FBI Hack Detained in Jordan | PCMag
  9. securityaffairs.com

    1 article · October 4, 2026

    ShinyHunters Suspect Detained in Jordan Helps FBI Track Down the Group
  10. securityweek.com

    2 articles · October 5, 2026

    Alleged ShinyHunters Leader Arrested in Jordan - SecurityWeek
  11. thehackernews.com

    2 articles · October 5, 2026

    ShinyHunters Suspect Rey Reportedly Detained in Jordan, Helping FBI Identify Group Members
  12. therecord.media

    1 article · October 5, 2026

    Alleged ShinyHunters member reportedly detained in Jordan, assisting law enforcement
  13. wincountry.com

    1 article · October 3, 2026

    Exclusive-ShinyHunters hacker in FBI data theft detained in Jordan, cooperating with bureau, sources say | WIN 98.5 Your Country | WNWN-FM | Battle Creek, MI

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