US media: Data of over 40K Homeland Security staff leaked - NHKニュース

US media outlets say that the personal data of more than 40,000 employees and contractors at the Department of Homeland Security has been leaked following a cyberattack by a hacker group on its systems.

The Washington Post and other media outlets reported on Wednesday that a hacker group calling itself the "Department of Peace" carried out the attack on the systems of the DHS. They said that the assault resulted in the exposure of personal data belonging to more than 41,000 employees and contractors. The data includes records of personnel at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and Customs and Border Protection, or CBP.

ICE agents are responsible for enforcing President Donald Trump's immigration policies, while CBP agents are tasked with securing the border.

The leaked contents reportedly contain the phone numbers, email addresses and job assignments of each staff member at those agencies. The reports say the data also includes information about undercover agents.

The hacker group claims that it gained access to sensitive data through an authentication service used by employees to log into internal systems. The data was allegedly provided to an activist group that publishes leaked information, then compiled into a database and posted on the group's website.

The DHS told NHK that it is "actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively." It also said that the department takes all security threats against its employees and officers seriously and will work to ensure that all of them are properly protected.