Names, job titles and work contact details for more than 40,000 U.S. Department of Homeland Security employees were published online after a hacker claimed to have stolen personnel data, news organizations reported^1,2,3.

The BBC said the cache included work addresses and phone numbers for staff at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, among other DHS components¹. TechCrunch reported more than half of the records — about 21,000 — related to CBP, with thousands more tied to ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, CISA and other units². Counts for ICE staff differed across outlets^2,4.

A hacker using the name Department of Peace claimed the data came from an Okta single sign-on system used across DHS, TechCrunch reported². Distributed Denial of Secrets and researcher maia arson crimew published the set under the name Icepick, according to the BBC¹. DDoSecrets co-founder Emma Best said the release was intended to identify officials overseeing covert and deportation work^1,3.

A DHS spokesperson told the BBC the department was aware of a potential breach, was working to address it, and took threats against employees seriously¹. The Verge said DHS did not immediately respond to its own request⁴. Reuters told DW it reached three listed employees and confirmed phone numbers³.

Outlets described the episode as one of several recent U.S. government data exposures, including FBI personnel records^2,3. How the Okta access was obtained, whether undercover officers were identified, and what DHS will change had not been detailed in the accounts cited here^1,2.