DHS Probes Suspected Data Breach Affecting About 40,000 Employees and Contractors

The Department of Homeland Security is investigating a possible data breach that may have exposed the identities and contact details of tens of thousands of its employees, according to sources who spoke with Fox News. Those sources described the incident as "catastrophic."

Based on people familiar with the data, the material may include the names, job titles and work locations of roughly 40,000 DHS employees and contractors. In some cases it also lists phone numbers and email addresses. About 10,000 of those affected are said to be ICE personnel.

The data also reportedly contains records tied to more than 20,000 employees of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, among them Border Patrol personnel. Multiple sources confirmed that portions of the information are authentic.

Distributed Denial of Secrets, a data leak website, said on Wednesday that it had published information about the employees. Fox News independently confirmed that the leaked records name several undercover ICE agents who work in different parts of the country.

A hacking group that describes itself as anti-fascist and calls itself the "Department of Peace" claimed responsibility for obtaining the data. In its own statement, the group said DHS employees "have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs." It added that it hoped the data "can be used to limit further harm by the DHS and supports all efforts in that direction."

Emma Best, a co-founder of Distributed Denial of Secrets, said in a statement that a tool has been built so the public can search the data. Best said it would "replace anonymity with accountability."

A DHS spokesperson told Fox News the department is aware of a potential breach and is "actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively." The statement continued: "We take all security threats against our employees and officers seriously and will work to ensure all are properly protected." The department said it would update the public when more information becomes available.

The reported incident comes amid wider concern over the security of government personnel records. Last month, a breach of a Pentagon personnel database exposed sensitive information belonging to more than 2.76 million living U.S. military and civilian personnel, along with 294,000 deceased individuals.

In that case, unauthorized users accessed unencrypted files containing Social Security numbers and military or civilian employment information between October 2025 and July 2026, a Pentagon official previously confirmed to Fox News.