DHS Leak: 40,000 Employee Records Exposed

More than 40,000 personal records from U.S. Department of Homeland Security employees were leaked online on Wednesday. The data includes names, phone numbers, and home addresses for agents, operatives, and associates. Some of the individuals listed participated in undercover operations.

The group responsible calls itself the Department of Peace. A spokesperson linked the breach to a remark made by Markwayne Mullin on July 17. Mullin said he was turning up the heat. The spokesperson stated, "This is what happens to ICE when you do that."

The hackers accessed the information by subverting the DHS single sign-on system. They shared the files with Distributed Denial of Secrets, or DDoSecrets, which published the data in a database named Icepick. The group also provided the records to U.S. journalist Ryan Ottignon and Swiss hacker maia arson crimew. Ottignon and crimew built a searchable online version of the data, with crimew handling the technical development.

Emma Best, a cofounder of DDoSecrets, called the leak extraordinary but deceptively simple. She noted that the records link officials overseeing covert operations to key personnel in rendition and deportation programs. Other activists argued the data could aid investigations. Freedom of information requests often lack specific names and email addresses, a gap this leak may fill.

DHS acknowledged a potential breach in a statement. The department said it is actively working to address the situation swiftly. It added that necessary steps are being taken to ensure proper protection for staff.

The leak contains data for more than 21,000 U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees. Approximately 10,000 additional records relate to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its Homeland Security Investigations unit. The database covers about a fifth of the DHS workforce, which totals a little more than 220,000 people. This follows similar hacking attacks at the FBI.

Ottignon rejected the term doxing for the release. He pointed to public officials who travel in plain clothes and masks while performing actions he called universally unspeakable things. He described the database as a step in an oversight process. A note attached by DDoSecrets read, "They have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs."