Hack Exposes Names and Work Details of More Than 40,000 DHS Personnel, Including ICE and CBP Agents

A hacking group has exposed the names, work phone numbers and work addresses of more than 40,000 people who work for or with the Department of Homeland Security, including agents involved in undercover operations, NPR and the BBC reported Wednesday.

More than 21,000 of the records identify employees of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to both outlets. NPR reported about 10,000 relate to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its Homeland Security Investigations unit; the BBC counted nearly 6,600 ICE employees. Other records cover Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The data also include descriptions of employees' work, dozens of previously unknown operation names and technology used in operations, including tools from Cellebrite and Palantir, the BBC reported.

A group calling itself the Department of Peace said it obtained the data by subverting DHS's single sign-on system, which it identified as Okta. "On July 17th, Markwayne Mullin said he was 'turning up the heat.' This is what happens to ICE when you do that," a spokesperson said. An Okta spokeswoman said the company is aware of the claims but that "Okta is secure, and we have no evidence our data or systems were compromised."

The group gave the material to Distributed Denial of Secrets, which posted it in a database called Icepick, and to journalist Ryan Ottignon and Swiss hacker maia arson crimew, who built a searchable version, NPR reported. DDoSecrets co-founder Emma Best said the leak identifies "officials responsible for overseeing covert and undercover operations" and "key personnel in DHS's ever-escalating rendition and deportation programs." A note attached to the files said, "They have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs."

Ottignon rejected the suggestion that the release amounts to doxing, citing agents who work masked or in plain clothes. "We need oversight for useful government," he said.

DHS said it was "aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively," adding, "We take all security threats against our employees and officers seriously and will work to ensure all are properly protected."

The data cover roughly a fifth of DHS's workforce of a little more than 220,000, NPR reported. The BBC said it is the third time in recent weeks a federal agency has been hit by a leak or hack, after a breach of FBI personnel data attributed to a group called ShinyHunters and a suspected attempt that took the Federal Election Commission offline.

The release comes amid intense public backlash to immigration enforcement. The BBC reported ICE agents have shot at more than two dozen people this year, killing at least nine.

Unanswered: how the intruders obtained access, whether other DHS systems were reached and whether any criminal investigation has been opened.