DHS Employee Records Exposed in Hack

The personal records of more than 41,000 Department of Homeland Security employees are now public. A hacker known as "Department of Peace" leaked the data, which includes names, job titles, phone numbers, email addresses, and office locations for staff across the agency.

The intrusion occurred through Okta, an identity management service used by the department. The dataset, dubbed "Icepick," contains specific details for roughly 21,000 Customs and Border Protection agents. It also includes records for nearly 7,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Files from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Homeland Security Investigations are also part of the release.

The leak was passed to cybersecurity researcher maia arson crimew, who then provided it to the nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets. The organization is currently hosting the files. The hacker stated that the department has their information, so it is fair that they have theirs, according to reports from TechCrunch.

The exposed data connects specific DHS groups to surveillance tools. These include Mobile Fortify, a facial recognition application, and PenLink, a tool that analyzes data from phones and online services. The breach follows a recent intrusion at the FBI, where employee and applicant data was stolen just weeks ago.

The department has historically sought to keep the identities of its CBP and ICE agents private. Those agents have conducted anti-immigration raids nationwide, and the agency has tracked online critics. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new leak.