Hackers claim leak of sensitive details on thousands of DHS workers

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The Department of Homeland Security is investigating after hackers claimed to have stolen and leaked the sensitive personal information of tens of thousands of current and former department employees, including some that work on covert and sensitive missions.

“DHS is aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively,” a department spokesperson told CNN. “We take all security threats against our employees and officers seriously and will work to ensure all are properly protected.”

A source familiar with the data breach confirmed that the information of some undercover personnel had been exposed.

A hacktivist group calling itself the Department of Peace obtained the data, and the anti-secrecy group Distributed Denial of Secrets posted it online on Wednesday, according to a statement from the latter group.

The group’s co-founder, Emma Best, said that the leak “identifies many of the architects and drivers of DHS policy and operations.”

A preliminary CNN review of the data found that at least some of the personal information attributed to DHS personnel in the leak is accurate. The data includes phone numbers, work supervisors and assignments for DHS personnel.

Also in the breach is data belonging to at least three Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers who were involved in shootings during the second Trump administration, according to the CNN review.

US officials familiar with the data leak reacted with a mix of concern and grim familiarity. One official called the leak “embarrassing,” but added “we have certainly seen worse.” They expressed concern about the possibility of phishing and doxxing stemming from the data dump.

The data was taken from an “internal” DHS database linked with a “single sign-on service” used by employees, according to Distributed Denial of Secrets.

DHS reiterated to its workforce Thursday that they were aware of the alleged data breach, according to an internal memo reviewed by CNN, adding that they’re “working to understand the scope of the situation, assess potential threats, and identify appropriate resources and protective measures.” In an earlier memo, employees were also pointed to previously shared resources offered to personnel for removing personally identifiable information from the internet.

The leak “reveals information that can be used by hackers to target the computers and devices of DHS personnel engaged in sensitive investigations and security work,” said Thomas Warrick, a former deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism policy at DHS. He called for a thorough investigation from Congress of how the breach occurred.

“DHS can’t just lock the barn door after the horse was stolen,” Warrick added. “It needs to make sure DHS and its contractors focus more on keeping the barn locked.”

“This hack has just served to put thousands of ordinary civil servants in the crosshairs of anonymous internet trolls,” said Sarah Pierce, director of social policy at the Third Way think tank, and a former official at DHS’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency.

“Many of these employees have served the federal government for decades, under multiple administrations,” Pierce told CNN. “They didn’t design these policies, and they don’t deserve to be punished for them.”

It’s just latest example of US law enforcement agencies scrambling to respond to their agents’ data being posted online. Last month, the FBI was dealing with its most serious breach in years after a cybercriminal group called ShinyHunters claimed to access data on thousands of current and former FBI personnel. That data heist included information on FBI personnel working in sensitive units focused on China and Russia, according to sources who have seen the data.

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国土安全部正在对黑客声称窃取并泄露数万名现任和前任国土安全部雇员的敏感个人信息一事进行调查，其中包括一些从事秘密和敏感任务的雇员。

“国土安全部已意识到可能发生安全漏洞，并正在积极采取措施，迅速有效地应对这一情况，”该部门发言人告诉CNN。“我们严肃对待所有针对我们员工和官员的安全威胁，并将努力确保所有人的安全得到妥善保护。”

一位熟悉此次数据泄露事件的消息人士证实，部分卧底人员的信息已被泄露。

据反保密组织“分布式秘密否认”（Distributed Denial of Secrets）发表的声明称，一个自称“和平部”（Department of Peace）的黑客行动主义组织获得了这些数据，该组织于周三将其发布到网上。

该组织的联合创始人艾玛·贝斯特表示，此次泄露事件“揭露了国土安全部政策和行动的许多设计者和推动者”。

美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）对泄露的数据进行初步审查后发现，至少部分泄露的国土安全部（DHS）人员个人信息是准确的。这些数据包括国土安全部人员的电话号码、工作主管和工作安排。

据 CNN 调查显示，此次泄露的数据中还包含至少三名移民和海关执法局以及边境巡逻队官员的数据，他们在特朗普第二任期内参与了枪击事件。

熟悉此次数据泄露事件的美国官员对此反应不一，既担忧又感到似曾相识。一位官员称此次泄露“令人尴尬”，但补充说“我们当然见过更糟糕的情况”。他们对此次数据泄露可能引发的网络钓鱼和人肉搜索表示担忧。

据《分布式秘密否认》报道，这些数据来自国土安全部的一个“内部”数据库，该数据库与员工使用的“单点登录服务”相连。

据CNN查阅的一份内部备忘录显示，美国国土安全部周四再次向员工重申，他们已获悉此次数据泄露事件，并表示正在“努力了解事件的严重程度，评估潜在威胁，并确定适当的资源和保护措施”。此前的一份备忘录还向员工提供了相关资源，用于从互联网上删除个人身份信息。

国土安全部前反恐政策副助理部长托马斯·沃里克表示，此次泄露事件“暴露的信息可能被黑客利用，攻击从事敏感调查和安全工作的国土安全部人员的电脑和设备”。他呼吁国会彻底调查此次泄露事件的起因。

沃里克补充说：“马被偷后，国土安全部不能只是把马厩门锁上。它需要确保国土安全部及其承包商更加重视马厩的锁闭工作。”

“这次黑客攻击只会让成千上万的普通公务员成为匿名网络喷子的攻击目标，”第三条道路智库社会政策主任、美国国土安全部公民及移民服务局前官员莎拉·皮尔斯说。

皮尔斯告诉CNN：“这些雇员中许多人已经在联邦政府工作了几十年，经历了多届政府。这些政策并非他们制定的，他们不应该因此受到惩罚。”

这只是美国执法机构疲于应对其特工数据被泄露到网上的最新案例。上个月，联邦调查局（FBI）遭遇了近年来最严重的数据泄露事件，一个名为“ShinyHunters”的网络犯罪团伙声称获取了数千名现任和前任FBI人员的数据。据看过这些数据的消息人士透露，此次数据泄露事件涉及在负责中国和俄罗斯事务的敏感部门工作的FBI人员的信息。