Doxxing 40,000 Homeland Security Workers Is Not "Accountability." It Is a Threat to the People Who Guard America
A hacker group has dumped the names, phone numbers and offices of tens of thousands of DHS employees, and activists are calling it transparency. Washington should call it what it is, and move fast to protect the officers and families now exposed.
By Clara Hughes
The men and women who guard America's borders and enforce its laws woke up this week to find their names in the hands of people who despise them. On October 28, TechCrunch reported that a hacker calling itself the "Department of Peace" had obtained and published data on more than 40,000 people connected to the Department of Homeland Security. The leaked records include names, job titles, work email addresses, cell phone numbers and office locations, according to TechCrunch. By its count, roughly 21,000 of the records relate to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, about 10,000 to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations, and just under 1,000 to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The BBC put the total at more than 41,000 personnel, including more than 21,000 from CBP and nearly 6,600 from ICE. The BBC also reported that the files include names of operations that had not been publicly known. The group behind the leak did not hide its motive. "They have our information, so it's only fair that we have theirs," the hacker told TechCrunch. In a statement quoted by the