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Over 40,000 U.S. Security Agency Employee Records Leaked

Security2 min read

Hackers stole personal data of more than 40,000 employees of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A nonprofit that publishes leaked data said it got the data from a hacker group called "Department of Peace".

What happened

Hackers broke into the systems of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and stole personal data of more than 40,000 staff. On October 28, the nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets said it had obtained the sensitive data from a hacker group named "Department of Peace". The data includes names, job titles, phone numbers, emails and office addresses. It covers staff from agencies such as ICE, CBP, HSI and CISA.

Key numbers and facts

  • More than 40,000 employee records were stolen.
  • About 21,000 records, more than half the data, belong to CBP staff who work at airports and border crossings.
  • About 10,000 records belong to ICE and HSI staff.
  • Nearly 1,000 records belong to CISA staff.
  • TechCrunch confirmed that part of the data was real by checking the names of some staff members.

How the data was taken

According to TechCrunch, the hackers took the data from Okta, a single sign-on system. DHS uses this system to let staff and contractors from different agencies log in to its central network. The system also holds IT records and login activity, including details about the internal systems and apps each person can access. According to AFP, the group also built a tool called Icepick, which lets users search for staff names, offices and duties.

Why it matters

The leak shows who works where and what each person does inside several DHS agencies. Security experts say this could be useful to attackers. DHS says it knows about the risk, is working to fix it quickly, and will share updates publicly. This is the latest data leak aimed at the U.S. government in recent months, and the second leak involving DHS this year by the same group.

What to watch

  • Whether DHS publishes more details about the breach and how it was fixed.
  • Whether more staff data is released by the Department of Peace group.
  • How the Okta login system is secured after the attack.

Glossary

Distributed Denial of Secrets
A nonprofit group that publishes leaked data.
Department of Peace
The hacker group that said it stole the DHS data.
DHS
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the government agency that protects the country from many threats.
CBP
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which guards borders, airports and border crossings.
Okta
A company whose single sign-on system lets users log in to many apps with one account.
Icepick
A search tool the hacker group said it made to find staff names, offices and duties.

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