DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

More details emerge on Department of Homeland Security breach affecting more than 247,000 employees and non-employees

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Dissent
Image credit: Dreamstime

If you were part of a Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General investigation at some time between 2002 through 2014, DHS wants you to know that you may be a breach victim. Unfortunately, due to “technological” issues, it seems that DHS can’t directly contact you to alert you, so read on…..

A few more details have emerged in the matter of a breach involving the Department of Homeland Security.  The breach, which involved the May discovery of an unauthorized copy of DHS’s investigative case management system in the possession of a former DHS OIG employee, was first reported in November by USA Today

Joseph Marks reports that the Inspector General has now confirmed that the breach affected more approximately 247,167  DHS employees, but DHS has now also revealed that the breach impacted non-employees who contacted or interacted with the department:  “individuals (i.e., subjects, witnesses, and complainants) associated with DHS OIG investigations from 2002 through 2014 (the “Investigative Data”).”

DHS’s statement can be found on their site. Of note, DHS writes:

The privacy incident did not stem from a cyber-attack by external actors, and the evidence indicates that affected individual’s personal information was not the primary target of the unauthorized exfiltration.

Affected individuals are being offered 18 months of free credit monitoring and identity protection services.

But of course, there are lots of raised eyebrows that the agency responsible for protecting  our homeland from terrorist attacks and the like had an insider breach that went unprevented and undetected until May of this year. In response to the incident, DHS notes:

The Department of Homeland Security takes very seriously the obligation to serve the Department’s employees and is committed to protecting the information in which they are entrusted. Please be assured that we will make every effort to ensure this does not happen again.  DHS is implementing additional security precautions to limit which individuals have access to this information and will better identify unusual access patterns. We will continue to review our systems and practices in order to better secure data. DHS OIG has also implemented a number of security precautions to further secure the DHS OIG network.

Will their changes also enable them to identify and notify any non-employees who might get caught up in any future breaches? Shouldn’t the agency have some way of doing that unless someone was a confidential witness who did not provide their real details in dealing with the agency – or something like that?

Category: Government SectorInsiderU.S.

Post navigation

← Shafer’s attorney files motion to dismiss federal charges of cyberstalking an FBI agent’s family and court personnel
German Health Ministry lobbyist data theft trial begin →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Comstar LLC agrees to corrective action plan and fine to settle HHS OCR charges
  • Australian ransomware victims now must tell the government if they pay up
  • U.S. Sanctions Cloud Provider ‘Funnull’ as Top Source of ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams
  • Victoria’s Secret takes down website after security incident
  • U.S. Government Employee Arrested for Attempting to Provide Classified Information to Foreign Government
  • St. Cloud Provides Update on Ransomware Attack in 2024
  • Bradford Health Systems detected abnormal network activity in December 2023. They first sent out breach notices this week.
  • Websites selling hacking tools to cybercriminals seized
  • ConnectWise suspects cyberattack affecting some ScreenConnect customers was state-sponsored
  • Possible ransomware attack disrupts Maine and New Hampshire Covenant Health locations

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Why AI May Be Listening In on Your Next Doctor’s Appointment
  • Watch out for activist judges trying to deprive us of our rights to safe reproductive healthcare
  • Nebraska Bans Minor Social Media Accounts Without Parental Consent
  • Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans
  • The US Is Storing Migrant Children’s DNA in a Criminal Database
  • Home Pregnancy Test Company Wins Dismissal of Pixel Wiretapping Suit
  • The CCPA emerges as a new legal battleground for web tracking litigation

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.