The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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41,000 DHS workers exposed online — even undercover investigators are in the dump

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THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?

SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).

  • Records identifying more than 41,000 Homeland Security employees and contractors were published Wednesday, including information tied to undercover operations.
  • DHS is investigating; an Obama-era acting ICE director warned that the exposure threatens agents, their families and criminal investigations.
  • Bluesky blocked links to the archive, saying employees’ contact information had been shared without authorization.

LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).

A group calling itself the Department of Peace has helped put the identities and working details of thousands of Homeland Security personnel on the internet. Apparently peace now comes with an immigration investigator’s phone number.

Records covering more than 41,000 DHS employees and contractors were released Wednesday through Distributed Denial of Secrets. Reporting by WIRED, Reuters and The Washington Post describes a trove that goes beyond names: contact information, offices, job assignments and internal groups associated with surveillance and undercover work.

DHS said it was “aware of a potential breach” and working to protect its personnel. The Washington Post confirmed the database’s authenticity with current and former officials. Reuters separately corroborated some employee information through records and direct calls.

The potential damage extends well beyond the political argument over immigration enforcement. John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director under President Barack Obama, warned that exposure could jeopardize agents and investigations involving gangs and drug cartels.

“I feel terrible for the agents and their families,” Sandweg told The Post.

The publishers frame the release as accountability. The Department of Peace supplied an especially revealing justification: “They have our information, so it’s only fair that we have theirs.” That is a rather casual way to discuss people working investigations whose success can depend on remaining unidentified.

The group claims the information came through the Okta sign-on service used by DHS. Okta disputes any demonstrated compromise of its own systems, saying it has “no evidence our data or systems were compromised.”

Even Bluesky blocked links to the archive and its searchable version. The platform told WIRED the contact details were shared without authorization, while leaving discussion of the reporting available.

The immediate job for DHS is to establish what was accessed and protect the people exposed. The agents and their families are the ones left living with the consequences of somebody else’s transparency project.

DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).

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