Hackers Leak Data of 41,000 DHS Employees

A hacker group calling itself the Department of Peace published personal data of more than 41,000 Department of Homeland Security employees, including ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents, according to TechCrunch and The Verge.

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Sources: TechCrunch, The Verge, Engadget

Personal information belonging to more than 41,000 Department of Homeland Security employees has been published online after a hacker group calling itself the Department of Peace stole the data in a previously undisclosed breach earlier this year, TechCrunch reported. The records include names, job titles, email addresses, phone numbers and office locations.

About 21,000 of the records relate to Customs and Border Protection employees who work at airports and other ports of entry, and roughly 10,000 belong to Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, including its Homeland Security Investigations unit, according to TechCrunch. Just under 1,000 records cover staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, with thousands more tied to DHS headquarters, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Federal Protective Service. Engadget reported the leak exposes details on roughly a seventh of the DHS workforce.

The hacker claimed the data came from an Okta single sign-on system DHS uses to let employees and contractors log in to its central network, TechCrunch reported. Okta told Wired it found no evidence its own data or systems were compromised. The hackers shared the files with cybersecurity researcher maia arson crimew and the transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets, which is hosting a searchable database it calls “Icepick,” according to The Verge and Engadget. “They have our information, so it’s only fair that we have theirs,” the group wrote in a note left with the data, per TechCrunch.

The context

The leak follows a string of intrusions targeting federal security agencies, coming weeks after hackers stole FBI data on employees and job applicants, The Verge reported, and after an earlier breach at the Defense Department. DHS has worked to conceal the identities of CBP and ICE agents carrying out immigration enforcement raids around the country, according to The Verge. The hackers framed the leak as retaliation: Engadget reported the group cited a July 17 press conference in which the DHS secretary said the agency was “turning up the heat on the streets” when asked about accountability for agents who violated use-of-force policy. That press conference followed the fatal shootings of Joan Sebastian Duran Guerrero of Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston, neither of whom was subject to ICE enforcement activities, Engadget reported. The hackers did not respond to TechCrunch’s questions about how the breach was carried out.

Why it matters

The breach exposes contact details and office locations for tens of thousands of federal law enforcement personnel at agencies conducting immigration enforcement, raising safety and privacy concerns for the employees named. Beyond personal data, the leak reportedly reveals operational details: The Verge reported the files link DHS groups to surveillance tools including the facial recognition app Mobile Fortify and PenLink, which collects data from phones and online services. Distributed Denial of Secrets founder Emma Best said the records identify officials overseeing covert and undercover operations and key personnel in DHS deportation programs.

What’s next

How the breach occurred remains unresolved: the hacker claimed access through DHS’s Okta system, but Okta said it found no evidence its systems were compromised, and the hacker did not answer TechCrunch’s questions about the intrusion method. DHS did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment. Watch for any official DHS statement on the breach, the department’s response to the exposure of agent identities, and whether the Icepick database remains online.

Sources

TechCrunch
Hacker stole personnel data about thousands of Homeland Security employees, including CBP and ICE agents
A hacker obtained personally identifiable information about more than 40,000 Homeland Security staffers, which has since been published online.
The Verge
A hacker stole more than 40,000 DHS employee records
The breach exposes names, job titles, phone numbers, email addresses, and office locations of DHS personnel.
Engadget
Hackers leaked details of more than 41,000 Homeland Security personnel
A hacktivist group stole the information of ICE agents and border police from Homeland Security.

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