Distributed Denial of Secrets releases data on over 40,000 DHS employees

Transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets released personnel data on more than 40,000 Department of Homeland Security employees on October 28, 2026. Attributed to the hacktivist group Department of Peace, the leak exposes work emails, titles, and access groups for personnel across CBP, ICE, and CISA, including undercover agents. While the group claims the breach aims to foster government accountability, identity provider Okta denies any security compromise.

Overview and contents of the Icepick leak

• ▪Transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets published an archive named Icepick containing records on over 40,000 DHS employees
• ▪The published Department of Homeland Security records include employee names, job titles, phone numbers, email addresses, office locations, and user access permission groups.
• ▪The leaked Department of Homeland Security records contain details on employees involved in sensitive assignments, including undercover operations, wiretaps, facial recognition, and surveillance software.

Breakdown of leaked agency records

• ▪The leaked dataset covers approximately 21,000 records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, accounting for more than half of the total published records.
• ▪The published dataset includes nearly 1,000 records from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and 6,200 records from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
• ▪The published files contain roughly 10,000 records from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including about a third within Homeland Security Investigations.

Hacker claims and Okta response

• ▪The Department of Peace previously claimed responsibility in March 2026 for hacking the Department of Homeland Security and releasing documents related to outside vendor contracts.
• ▪A hacker group calling itself the Department of Peace claimed it exfiltrated the Department of Homeland Security data from the department's Okta single sign-on system.
• ▪An Okta spokesperson stated that Okta is secure and has no evidence that its systems or data were compromised in relation to the Department of Homeland Security leak.

Motivations and legal context for the release

• ▪In a note accompanying the leaked files, the Department of Peace stated that Department of Homeland Security employees have public information, making it fair that the public has theirs.
• ▪Senior attorney Adam Steinbaugh of FIRE stated that basic work details like employee names and titles on business cards cannot be legally criminalized as restricted personal information.
• ▪Distributed Denial of Secrets co-founder Emma Best and researcher maia arson crimew stated that making the dataset searchable aims to replace employee anonymity with public accountability.

Other recent federal government data breaches

• ▪In September 2026, the hacking group ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen personal data on thousands of Federal Bureau of Investigation employees and their families.
• ▪In October 2026, a class action lawsuit was filed against the U.S. Department of Defense following a data breach that exposed records on millions of military personnel.