Technology1 min read

Data of 1000+ US Homeland Security workers leaked

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The breach affects personnel across several sub-agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Transparency advocates claim the files were extracted from the Okta single sign-on platform, prompting a hacktivist to build a searchable tool for public access. In response, Okta insisted its systems show no evidence of compromise, while federal officials stated they are actively working to protect staff. Outside checks have already authenticated parts of the leak after matched employees verified their leaked contact numbers.

Key points

  • The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it is responding to the security breach to…: The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it is responding to the security breach to protect impacted staff members.
  • Identity provider Okta stated its infrastructure remains secure and has found no evidence…: Identity provider Okta stated its infrastructure remains secure and has found no evidence confirming an internal system compromise.
  • This security incident follows an alleged FBI breach by ShinyHunters and a recent class a…: This security incident follows an alleged FBI breach by ShinyHunters and a recent class action lawsuit involving the Department of Defense.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

DHS said in a statement it was "aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively." The agency said it was working to ensure its employees were properly protected and would update the public "when more information is available."

The disclosure - which the nonprofit data transparency group says draws on information obtained by an entity calling itself "Department of Peace" - is the third major government data leak to have made headlines in the past month.

In September, the hacking group ShinyHunters claimed the theft of a massive trove of data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including sensitive job details and medical information from thousands of bureau employees. Last week, the Defense Department was hit with a class action lawsuit following a breach that exposed data on millions of current and former military personnel.

The DHS data includes names, phone numbers and email addresses of employees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and other DHS component agencies.

Also included…

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