Group Says It Released Data on More Than 40,000 Homeland Security Employees
Distributed Denial of Secrets, a group that publishes leaked material, said on Wednesday that it had released data on more than 40,000 employees of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). CyberScoop reported the same day that the group published internal records on over 41,000 DHS employees and contractors.
The files include names, phone numbers and email addresses of staff at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Homeland Security Investigations and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as well as other DHS component agencies. The Guardian reported that the data also includes job titles and email groups showing which agents were assigned to special operations, surveillance, computer forensics and undercover work. It includes details about officials in sensitive fields such as human intelligence, the gathering of information from people.
Distributed Denial of Secrets said the disclosure draws on information obtained by an entity calling itself "Department of Peace." Speaking about the release, the entity said DHS employees "have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs." In March, the same entity claimed responsibility for hacking DHS and posting documents related to contracts with outside vendors.
Emma Best, a co-founder of Distributed Denial of Secrets, said the Department of Peace obtained the DHS data from Okta, a sign-on service that lets users log in to several work systems with one set of credentials. Okta said it is secure and that it has no evidence its data or systems were compromised.
Best also said a hacktivist using the name "maia arson crimew" developed a search tool that lets the public browse the DHS data.
The release follows other recent cyber incidents involving US federal agencies. In September, the hacking group ShinyHunters claimed it had stolen FBI data, including sensitive job details and medical information from thousands of bureau employees. Separately, the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, was expected to flag that DHS delayed in notifying Congress of incidents.
