Hacker stole personnel data about thousands of Homeland Security employees, including CBP and ICE agents

Personally identifiable information belonging to thousands of U.S. Department of Homeland Security employees has been published online after a hacker stole reams of data in a previously undisclosed breach at the government department earlier this year.

The breach includes names, job titles, and work contact information, such as email addresses, cell phone numbers, and office locations, of more than 40,000 people who work for the federal department, including border and immigration agents, cybersecurity staffers, and senior department officials.

A hacker who goes by the handle Department of Peace claimed they obtained the data from an Okta single sign-on system used by Homeland Security to allow employees and contractors across its various agencies to log into its central network. The Okta system also contains IT and login records associated with the employees’ user account, including details about which systems and internal apps they are permitted to access.