Massive Leak Exposes 41,000 Homeland Security Workers—Including Undercover ICE Agents
A massive leak has exposed personal information of more than 41,000 Department of Homeland Security employees and contractors, including undercover ICE agents, according to records obtained by the transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets.
The leaked records span DHS itself and seven component agencies, including ICE and CBP, and were last updated on August 19, 2026. The data includes email addresses, phone numbers, office addresses, and references to internal systems and sensitive surveillance programs. DDoSecrets published the archive on Wednesday, claiming it came from DHS's Okta login system.
In a note accompanying the files, the hackers wrote, 'They have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs.' An Okta spokesperson told WIRED they are 'unaware of any breach' of their systems, stating 'Okta is secure, and we have no evidence our data or systems were compromised.'
Surveillance Programs Revealed
The leak reveals how DHS is structured and operates, with CBP staffers accounting for more than half of the records. At ICE's investigative wing, 39 employees across field offices belong to groups referencing 'certified undercover operation.' Other groups reference surveillance programs like the 'Communications Intercept Center TechOps Program' and tools including Palantir's Falcon platform and PenLink for analyzing phone records.
Leadership and AI Access
Two permission groups, 'Executive Leadership' and 'AI Access,' list 13 people given exceptions to DHS's web filter, including former DHS head Kristi Noem and Antoine McCord, the recently departed chief information officer. Another group called 'Grok.com' includes eight DHS technology officials, referencing xAI's chatbot tool.
The leak also shows more than 700 CBP accounts associated with a group referencing Signal, the encrypted messaging app, and over 200 CBP accounts in a group for Mobile Fortify, a face recognition app. Roughly 1,300 ICE enforcement accounts were created after July 2025, when Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act funding 10,000 new officers.
Accountability vs. Privacy
The leak comes as DHS has aggressively pursued critics, seeking to unmask social media users and obtain protest records. The agency has expanded the definition of 'doxing' to encompass basic facts about public employees. The Trump administration has prosecuted protesters for posting information about ICE officers.
Adam Steinbaugh, a senior attorney at FIRE, notes that the leaked information 'would be on a business card' and 'is not something the government can criminalize.' The creators of Icepick see it as an accountability tool, arguing DHS 'completely lacks accountability' despite being unpopular among many of its workers.
The leak follows a breach where hackers claimed to have stolen information on nearly every FBI employee. DHS and DOJ did not respond to requests for comment, while the FBI referred inquiries to DHS.
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