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Immigration

Leak site publishes data on more than 40,000 Homeland Security employees

DHS says it is working to address a potential breach, and a group calling itself the Department of Peace claims it took the data.

11 news outlets reported this
Liberal5 outletsCenter3 outletsConservative3 outlets
Published 4 min read
Overview

On Wednesday, the nonprofit group Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) made public records covering more than 40,000 employees of the Department of (DHS). They list names, phone numbers, email addresses and job details for staff at , , Homeland Security Investigations, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other DHS agencies. An entity styling itself the Department of Peace says it took the data.

DDoSecrets co-founder Emma Best said it came from Okta, the sign-in service DHS uses. Okta says it has no evidence its data or systems were compromised. Best said a search tool built by hacker maia crimew would "replace anonymity with accountability."

A DHS spokesperson said the department is aware of a potential breach and is working to address it. The Guardian reports that DHS asked Icelandic host FlokiNET to remove the data or limit access, in a request sent by ZeroFox, a firm ICE has authorized to seek removals, and posted by FlokiNET. The request cited a risk of "harassment, stalking and physical harm."

FlokiNET's CEO told Reuters the company would not comply, since the data holds work, not personal, contact details. Straight Arrow News, citing The Washington Post, reports former ICE official John Sandweg called the leak a "nightmare scenario."

Three sides of the story

Liberal5 outlets

The Independent carries a Reuters report that focuses on what the data holds and how far it checks out, under a headline calling the leak "catastrophic." Reuters says it matched six named employees to credit bureau and breach records, phoned three and confirmed their details, though it could not verify the whole trove. The report also carries Okta's denial.

A Guardian follow-up centers on DHS's takedown request to the Icelandic host FlokiNET, which cited risk to more than 40,000 people, and on the host's refusal. It adds that the database briefly went offline before reappearing at another domain, and that privacy advocates have criticized DHS's use of and taxpayer data for immigration enforcement. MS NOW writes that the Trump administration "freaks out" over the leak, describes DHS as central to what it calls a "deadly and racist crusade" against immigrants, and says Trump has "gutted" cybersecurity defenses, which "hasn't helped matters," though it is unclear whether that played a role.

NPR reports that the group behind the release calls the unmasking of ICE agents, DHS operatives and contractors fair play, given what it sees as the government's lack of transparency.

Center3 outlets

Straight Arrow News stresses that the hackers exposed identities DHS has long declined to release, and ties the staff to enforcement and activity under President Trump. It quotes crimew and Best on the dataset, called Icepick, and on the icepi.cx search tool. It says it found two CBP agents involved in a fatal Minneapolis shooting, and notes DHS has cited rising threats against employees to justify secrecy.

A second Straight Arrow piece reports DHS is investigating a potential breach and that crimew says she only compiled the data into a searchable database. It also quotes former ICE official John Sandweg, via The Washington Post, calling it a "nightmare scenario." The BBC gives agency counts, more than 21,000 at CBP and nearly 6,600 at ICE, and mentions previously unknown operation names and vendor technology.

It adds Okta's denial and the Department of Peace's reference to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's "turning up the heat" remark, and places the leak amid shootings, masked agents and deportation figures. The Hill reports that DDoSecrets published data on more than 40,000 employees, some in intelligence work, and that the source was named only as "Department of Peace."

Conservative3 outlets

The New York Post ran the Reuters report, including the Department of Peace's statement that DHS staff "have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs," Okta's denial and Reuters' limited verification. Fox News, citing unnamed sources, says DHS is investigating a breach those sources called "catastrophic," with roughly 10,000 ICE personnel and more than 20,000 CBP employees in the data.

Fox says multiple sources confirmed parts of the data and that it independently confirmed the names of several undercover ICE agents. It calls the Department of Peace an "anti-fascist hacking group" and links the incident to a Pentagon personnel breach affecting millions. Breitbart, relaying TechCrunch, stresses the danger to staff, saying the release leaves ICE agents and others open to harassment and violence.

It adds that TechCrunch checked part of the data against known employees, that timestamps suggest the data was taken around mid-August, and that the leak covers about a fifth of DHS's workforce. All three outlets carry the DHS spokesperson's statement.

Where outlets disagree
  • Which agency's agents shot Alex Pretti
    • Straight Arrow News: Two CBP agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
    • BBC News: Alex Pretti was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minnesota.
All sources: 14 articles from 11 outlets

Liberal (6)

Center (5)

Conservative (3)

Related
DHS (Department of Homeland Security)

The federal ministry in charge of borders and immigration enforcement. ICE, CBP and USCIS belong to it, as do the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and the disaster agency FEMA.

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ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement: the federal agency that arrests, detains and deports people who are in the US without legal status.

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CBP and Border Patrol

Customs and Border Protection guards the borders and checks everyone entering the country. The Border Patrol is part of it.

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Medicaid

Public health coverage for people with low incomes, paid by the federal government and the states. The rules differ by state.

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Deportation

Forced removal from the US of a person with no legal right to stay. An immigration court usually orders it, but some people are removed faster, without a hearing.

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