DHS says it is aware of a potential breach after DDoSecrets published records on more than 41,000 Homeland Security employees and contractors, WIRED reports
The transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) on Wednesday 28 October 2026 published an archive of US Department of Homeland Security records that, according to WIRED, exposes details of more than 41,000 employees or contractors of DHS and seven of its component agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection.
WIRED reports that the records include email addresses, phone numbers and office addresses as well as references to internal systems and to undercover and surveillance programs, and were last updated on 19 August 2026; according to a WIRED analysis of the data, CBP staff account for more than half of the records and ICE for about 10,000.
A Homeland Security spokesperson told WIRED: "DHS is aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively."
DDoSecrets says in a press release that the data is from DHS's Okta login system, according to WIRED; an Okta spokesperson told WIRED: "Okta is secure, and we have no evidence our data or systems were compromised."
DDoSecrets told WIRED it obtained the data from a group calling itself the Department of Peace. (source: WIRED)
- Product
- US Department of Homeland Security employee and contractor records (source system not confirmed by DHS)
- Versions
- n/a — data leak
- Exploited in Australia?
- unknown
- Patch to
- DHS staff and contractors: treat unexpected calls, emails and messages that use your work details with caution; Recorded Future's Alexander Leslie told WIRED an adversary could use the data to develop convincing impersonation attempts. DHS told WIRED it will update the public when more information is available.