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Massive leak exposes 41,000 DHS workers and undercover ICE agents

Massive leak exposes 41,000 DHS workers and undercover ICE agents

arstechnica.com 29.10.2026 13:58 8 views
The leak reveals undercover agents, surveillance groups, and sensitive DHS access.

An unprecedented leak of Department of Homeland Security records has exposed details of more than 41,000 employees or contractors who work for the department and its constituent agencies. The records include email addresses, phone numbers, and office addresses, but also references to internal systems and sensitive information on undercover and surveillance programs. In all, the leak provides a map of how DHS is organized and how it operates.

The records, which span DHS itself as well as seven component agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection, were last updated on August 19, 2026. The transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets and cybersecurity researcher and journalist maia arson crimew previewed the data for WIRED, which they say they obtained from a group calling itself the Department of Peace. DDoSecrets published the archive, which it calls “Icepick,” on Wednesday.

In a press release, DDoSecrets says the data is from DHS’s Okta login system. In a note with the files, the hackers wrote, “They have our information, so it’s only fair that we have theirs.” An Okta spokesperson tells WIRED that it is unaware of any breach of its systems. Okta is secure, and we have no evidence our data or systems were compromised,” the spokesperson says.

The leak comes as DHS has aggressively pursued its critics, seeking to unmaskanonymous social media users, obtain customer records on protesters, and secure warrants for surveillance tools aimed at reporters. Since the start of the second Trump administration, DHS and the federal government have moved to hide DHS employees’ names and faces. The agency has also expanded its definition of “doxing”—a term that typically refers to publishing someone’s home address and other personal details for malicious purposes—to encompass the publication of basic facts about public employees, like their names and titles.

The leak follows a breach in which a group of hackers known as ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen personal information on nearly every FBI employee and their families. Law enforcement agencies have arrested several suspects and detained another who is alleged to be part of the group.

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