DHS Data Breach: 40,000 Employee Records Exposed

A hacking group released the personal information of more than 40,000 Department of Homeland Security employees on Wednesday.

The data includes names, phone numbers, and addresses for agents and operatives, some of whom work in undercover capacities. The group, known as the Department of Peace, said it accessed the files by exploiting the department's single sign-on system. It then distributed the material to Distributed Denial of Secrets, which published the records in an online database called Icepick.

The leak specifically targets personnel within U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The records identify more than 21,000 employees with Customs and Border Protection. Another 10,000 relate to Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff, including members of its Homeland Security Investigations unit. The dataset represents roughly one-fifth of the department's total workforce, which stands at a little more than 220,000 people.

A spokesperson for the Department of Peace stated the breach was a response to comments made by Markwayne Mullin on July 17. Mullin said at the time that he was turning up the heat on the agency. The hackers aimed to expose the connections between officials overseeing covert operations and key personnel in rendition and deportation programs.

Ryan Ottignon, a U.S.-based journalist, collaborated with a Swiss hacker named maia arson crimew to create a searchable version of the data. Ottignon said crimew handled the technical work. He rejected the term doxing for the release. He argued that public officials often hide their identities while wearing masks and plain clothes in communities. He stated that such behavior is unacceptable in a free society and that the data serves as a step in the oversight process.

DHS said in a statement that it is aware of the potential breach. The department is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively. It added that it is taking necessary steps to ensure all personnel are properly protected. Activists noted that the specific information, such as names and email addresses, will help researchers filing freedom of information requests that previously yielded useless results due to a lack of specificity.

Distributed Denial of Secrets attached a note to the files. The group wrote that officials have the public's information, so it is only fair that the public has theirs. The leak follows similar hacking attacks at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.