Leak names 41,000 Homeland Security employees, personal details of ICE and CBP agents posted online in the Icepick database
Third federal breach in weeks hits the agency running the hunt for leakers
Images
US immigration agents often work with their faces covered and do not wear identification.
bbc.com
US immigration agents often work with their faces covered and do not wear identification.
bbc.com
Names, work addresses and phone numbers of more than 41,000 US Department of Homeland Security employees have been published online, in a database its distributors have named Icepick. The material covers staff at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, and was posted by the journalist and cybersecurity researcher Maia Crimew together with the transparency site Distributed Denial of Secrets.
According to the data, more than 21,000 of those named work for CBP and nearly 6,600 for ICE, with further records covering Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Beyond staff lists, the leak includes dozens of previously unknown operation names, the agents who led and worked on them, and details of the technology used in the field, including tools from Cellbrite and Palantir.
The group behind the breach calls itself the Department of Peace and says it reached the agent profiles through a single sign-on service, Okta. Okta says it is aware of the claims, believes itself secure, and has no evidence its data or systems were compromised. DHS says it is "aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively."
It is the third federal intrusion in recent weeks. The FBI was hacked last month by a group called ShinyHunters, which stole personal information on thousands of agents, and the Federal Election Commission was taken offline over a suspected hacking attempt. The backdrop is an enforcement build-up: public backlash has grown as the administration pushes increased arrests and deportations, and immigration operations this year have repeatedly turned violent, with ICE agents shooting at more than two dozen people and killing at least nine.
The publication is aimed at the anonymity in which that enforcement operates. DDoSecrets co-founder Emma Best says the aim was to "replace anonymity with accountability" — identifying officials responsible for overseeing covert and undercover operations, the government's hunt for leakers, and key personnel in DHS's rendition and deportation programs. The Department of Peace says its work was prompted by actions taken by ICE agents, citing a July 17 statement by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that he was "turning up the heat."
DHS says it takes all security threats against its employees and officers seriously. The names, work addresses and phone numbers of more than 41,000 of them are now online.