The leak website Distributed Denial of Secrets said Wednesday it released data on more than 40,000 Department of Homeland Security employees, including officials working in surveillance and human intelligence. DHS said it was "aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively."
The disclosure is the third major government data leak in the past month. In September, Shiny Hunters claimed theft of FBI data. Last week, the Defense Department faced a class action lawsuit after a breach exposed data on millions of military personnel. The DHS data includes names, phone numbers and email addresses from ICE, Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, CISA and other agencies.
It also reveals job titles and email groups tied to special operations, surveillance, computer forensics and undercover work. Distributed Denial of Secrets co-founder Emma Best said hacktivist "maia arson crimew" built a search tool to "replace anonymity with accountability." The Department of Peace claimed responsibility and said it harvested data from Okta (OKTA.O). Reuters could not verify the full trove but matched details for six DHS employees to credit bureau and dark web records.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing