{
  "id": 17042545,
  "title": "Leak website releases data on thousands of US Homeland Security employees",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/leak-website-releases-data-on-thousands-of-us-homeland-security-17042545",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-29T10:06:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Daily Maverick",
    "slug": "daily-maverick",
    "url": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-29-leak-website-releases-data-on-thousands-of-us-homeland-security-employees-1/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Wednesday, a leak website named Distributed Denial of Secrets disclosed information on over 40,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees. The leak included personal details like names, phone numbers, and email addresses of workers from various DHS component agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The data also contained job titles and email groups, which indicated which agents were assigned to special operations, surveillance jobs, computer forensics, and undercover work.\n\nDHS acknowledged the potential breach and stated they were actively addressing the situation. The Department of Homeland Security said they aimed to protect their employees and would update the public with more information as it became available. The Department of Peace, who claimed responsibility for the hack, offered a search tool to the public, allowing them to browse the data. The hacktivist Emma Best, co-founder of Distributed Denial of Secrets, developed this tool to replace anonymity with accountability.\n\nThe leak is the third major government data breach in the past month. In September, ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen sensitive data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), including job details and medical information from thousands of bureau employees. Also last week, the Defense Department faced a class action lawsuit following a breach exposing data on millions of current and former military personnel.\n\nThe DHS data contains employee names, phone numbers, and email addresses from several agencies, job titles and email groups, which show which agents are involved in special operations, surveillance jobs, computer forensics, and undercover work. Distributed Denial of Secrets co-founder Emma Best said her tool would empower journalists and guide public records requests. The Department of Peace, who claimed responsibility for the hack, hoped the data could be used to limit further harm by the DHS.",
  "summary": "The leak website Distributed Denial of Secrets said on Wednesday it has released data on more than 40,000 Department of Homeland Security employees, including details about officials working in sensitive fields such as surveillance and human intelligence.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CNA - Business",
        "title": "Leak website releases data on thousands of US Homeland Security employees",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/leak-website-releases-data-on-thousands-of-us-homeland-security",
        "published": "2026-10-29T00:40:34.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Economic Times",
        "title": "40,000+ Homeland Security workers' names leaked",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/40-000-homeland-security-workers-names-leaked",
        "published": "2026-10-29T00:59:38.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Leak website releases data on thousands of US Homeland Security employees",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/leak-website-releases-data-on-thousands-of-us-homeland-security-16993243",
        "published": "2026-10-29T02:22:03.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "DW English (Top Stories)",
        "title": "US: Department of Homeland Security data leak exposes details of more than 40,000 employees",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/us-department-of-homeland-security-data-leak-exposes-details-of-more",
        "published": "2026-10-29T03:21:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Leak website releases data on thousands of US homeland security employees",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/leak-website-releases-data-on-thousands-of-us-homeland-security-17008270",
        "published": "2026-10-29T03:42:51.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}