A hacking group calling itself Department of Peace has leaked the names, work addresses, phone numbers and job descriptions of more than 41,000 Department of Homeland Security personnel, in what researchers are calling an unprecedented breach of the agency's workforce data.
The leaked records, published Wednesday in a database named Icepick, include more than 21,000 agents working for Customs and Border Protection and nearly 6,600 from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with staff from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The data also includes dozens of previously unknown operation names, the agents who led them, and details of surveillance technology used in the field, including tools provided by Cellebrite and Palantir.
A Breach Through a Trusted Login Service
Department of Peace said it accessed the agent profiles through Okta, a widely used single sign-on service that organizations rely on to control access to internal systems. A spokeswoman for Okta said the company is "aware of the claims being made" but added: "Okta is secure, and we have no evidence our data or systems were compromised." The information itself was put online by journalist and cybersecurity researcher maia crimew, working with the transparency site Distributed Denial of Secrets.
"The leak is extraordinary but deceptive in its simplicity as it identifies the officials responsible for overseeing covert and undercover operations, the government's hunt for leakers and the failed BlueLeaks investigation — along with key personnel in DHS's ever-escalating rendition and deportation programs."
Emma Best, co-founder, Distributed Denial of Secrets
The Third Federal Breach in Weeks
A DHS spokesperson said the agency is "aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively," adding that it would "work to ensure all are properly protected." Wednesday's leak is the third breach or leak to hit a federal agency in recent weeks: the FBI was hacked last month by a group called ShinyHunters, which took personal data on thousands of agents, and the Federal Election Commission was recently taken offline by a suspected hacking attempt.
A spokesperson for Department of Peace linked the hack directly to ICE's enforcement conduct, citing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's vow in July to start "turning up the heat" on immigration enforcement. Public anger over ICE's tactics has been building amid a sharp increase in arrests and deportations this year, which has repeatedly turned violent — including the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two bystanders killed by ICE agents in Minnesota despite not being the targets of any arrest. Agents frequently carry out operations with their faces covered by masks and sunglasses and rarely identify themselves, even though they are required by law to do so, prompting repeated public demands that DHS enforce that requirement.
