Hackers Leak Personal Details of Tens of Thousands of DHS Staff
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A hacking group calling itself the Department of Peace says it broke into Department of Homeland Security personnel files and leaked identifying details of more than 40,000 people connected to the department, according to NPR. Fox News reported that the leaked records include the names of several undercover ICE agents, which the network said it confirmed independently.
DHS said it is aware of a potential breach and is working to address it. The leak has drawn sharply different reactions: the people behind it describe it as accountability, while the department says it takes threats against its employees seriously.
What was exposed and how it spread
NPR reported that the data includes names, phone numbers and addresses. Fox News, citing sources familiar with the data, described the exposed information as names, titles, locations and, in some cases, phone numbers and email addresses. Reports differ somewhat on which details appear for each person.
According to NPR, more than 21,000 of the records identify employees of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and another 10,000 relate to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its Homeland Security Investigations unit. Fox News gave similar figures, citing roughly 10,000 ICE personnel and more than 20,000 CBP employees, and said the data covers employees and contractors.
The hackers said in an online post that they stole the material by subverting DHS's single sign-on system. They said they passed it to Distributed Denial of Secrets, a data-leak site, which posted it in a database called Icepick. NPR reported that the group also shared the data with U.S.-based journalist Ryan Ottignon and a Swiss hacker known as maia arson crimew, who built a searchable online database. Fox News said multiple sources confirmed the authenticity of portions of the data.
NPR noted the leak is far from complete. It represents about a fifth of the department's workforce, which is a little more than 220,000 people.
What the hackers and their allies say
A Department of Peace spokesperson tied the breach to Markwayne Mullin's July 17 statement that he was increasing pressure, saying this is what happens to ICE when that is done, NPR reported. The group told Fox News it hopes the data can be used to limit further harm by DHS.
A note attached to the files from Distributed Denial of Secrets said, “They have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs.” Co-founder Emma Best said the search tool would “replace anonymity with accountability,” according to Fox News. Best also told NPR the leak is simple but significant because it links officials who oversee covert and undercover work with key personnel in deportation programs.
Ottignon rejected the suggestion that he was doxing government employees. He told NPR that officials who travel through communities while masked or in plain clothes are hiding who they are, and he called that unacceptable in a free society. He described the database as one step in an oversight process.
What DHS says
A department spokesperson told Fox News that DHS is aware of a potential breach and is working to address it quickly and effectively. The statement added that DHS takes all security threats against its employees and officers seriously and will work to ensure they are protected. Fox News reported that the department said it will update the public when more information is available. DHS has not publicly detailed how the intrusion happened.
Fox News said its sources described the incident in the most severe terms.
Why it matters for employees, investigators and the public
For the people named in the records, the leak puts personal contact details and work locations in a searchable public database. That includes, according to Fox News, undercover ICE agents in different parts of the country.
For journalists, researchers and activists, the data could change how they investigate the department. NPR reported that some activists say the names and email addresses will help people filing freedom of information requests, which often return little of use without that specificity.
The episode also raises a broader question about where oversight ends and the exposure of individuals begins, a line the hackers and DHS draw very differently.
What comes next
DHS says it is still working on its response and plans to share more information when it is available. The department has not said what steps it is taking to protect affected employees.
