Personal information belonging to more than 41,000 employees of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including thousands of immigration enforcement officers, has been leaked online in a major security breach.
The exposed records contain the names, work addresses, telephone numbers and job descriptions of personnel working for various agencies under the DHS, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
The breach, which became public on Wednesday, is the third reported incident involving leaks or cyberattacks targeting US government agencies in recent weeks.
A DHS spokesperson confirmed that the department was investigating the incident.
The spokesperson said the agency is “aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively.”
“We take all security threats against our employees and officers seriously and will work to ensure all are properly protected,” the spokesperson added.
“We will update the public when more information is available.”
The data was reportedly obtained by a group known as the Department of Peace and subsequently published by journalist and cybersecurity researcher maia crimew, working alongside the website Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets).
The database containing the information was named Icepick.
According to the leaked records, more than 21,000 personnel were associated with CBP, while nearly 6,600 worked for ICE.
Other affected employees included personnel from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Beyond personal and employment details, the database reportedly revealed dozens of previously undisclosed operation names, the officers involved in those activities and some of the technology used, including tools supplied by Cellebrite and Palantir.
DDoSecrets said the publication was not intended to create a comprehensive directory of DHS personnel.
Rather, it sought to expose the officials involved in government activities.
According to the organisation’s co-founder, Emma Best, the aim was to replace “anonymity with accountability”.
“The leak is extraordinary but deceptive in its simplicity as it identifies the officials responsible for overseeing covert and undercover operations, the government’s hunt for leakers and the failed BlueLeaks investigation – along with key personnel in DHS’s ever-escalating rendition and deportation programs,” Best added.
BlueLeaks refers to a major disclosure of US police data in 2020, which DDoSecrets also hosted.
The Department of Peace linked its action to the activities of immigration enforcement officers and comments made by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who assumed the position in March.
A spokesperson for the group said, “On July 17th, Markwayne Mullin said he was ‘turning up the heat’. This is what happens to ICE when you do that,” the spokesperson wrote on Wednesday.
The group said it accessed the employee profiles through Okta, a single sign-on service used by organisations to control access to internal systems.
However, an Okta spokeswoman said the company was aware of the allegations but had found no evidence of a compromise.
“Okta is secure, and we have no evidence our data or systems were compromised.”
The latest incident follows a separate breach last month in which a hacking group known as ShinyHunters reportedly obtained personal information belonging to thousands of FBI agents.
The Federal Election Commission also experienced an outage in recent days following a suspected hacking attempt.
The disclosures come amid growing opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which has involved an increase in arrests and deportations of people suspected of being in the United States illegally.
Immigration enforcement operations have repeatedly turned violent this year, with ICE officers shooting at more than two dozen people and killing at least nine, according to the report.
Among those killed were Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were shot dead by ICE agents in Minnesota despite not being the targets of arrest operations.
Immigration officers frequently wear masks and sunglasses during enforcement activities, making identification difficult.
Although officers are required by law to identify themselves, concerns have been raised about compliance, prompting some US lawmakers to demand stricter enforcement of the requirement.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025, the United States has recorded nearly one million deportations, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
More than 70 per cent of those deported reportedly had no criminal record.
