ICED OUT

Trump’s ICE Agents Exposed in ‘Nightmare’ Leak

Activists created an online database with the names of 41,000 Homeland Security agents.

An activist group has hacked the names of tens of thousands of ICE agents and Department of Homeland Security employees, which were then leaked online.

The leak reportedly contains the names, contact details, and roles of 41,000 DHS employees. Hacktivist group The Department of Peace said it had gained access to the data using a sign-in service used to access internal systems, The Washington Post reported.

The activists shared the data with nonprofit group Distributed Denial of Secrets and a Swiss hacker, who created a searchable online database. The activists said online they’re seeking to increase oversight and transparency of the DHS, the enforcement wing of President Trump’s hardline anti-migration policies.

The DHS told media outlets it was aware of a potential breach and was working to “address the situation swiftly and effectively.”

“We take all security threats against our employees and officers seriously and will work to ensure all are properly protected,” a DHS spokesperson added.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the DHS for comment.

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John Sandweg, a top DHS official in the Obama administration, described the hack to the Post as a “nightmare scenario,” adding it could place DHS agents and employees in jeopardy and hamper investigations into cartels and other criminal networks.

ICE has sought to arrest and deport tens of thousands of people they accuse of living in the U.S. illegally, and have been accused of using hardline and brutal tactics.

Masked ICE agents in civilian clothing have scoured cities, drawing mass protests. ICE agents have been linked to multiple fatal shootings this year, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January.

The DHS says disclosing the identities of ICE agents puts their security at risk, but critics say their backgrounds should be open to public scrutiny amid reports that thousands of recruits with checkered pasts were recruited into the agency to boost its numbers.

The leak is the latest in a series of high-profile data breaches that have roiled federal agencies in a matter of weeks. In September, a hacker group breached the FBI via its jobs portal, gaining sensitive data on employees and applicants. Shortly after, hackers accessed Pentagon data on nearly 3 million current and former military personnel, including their Social Security numbers.

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