The Department of Homeland Security is said to be investigating a breach of its platform, which federal, state, and local governments and law enforcement use to share intelligence, with one senior lawmaker warning that the information spill could risk national security.
News sites Nextgov, which first reported the incident, and Bleeping Computer report that DHS officials are probing a cyberattack on its Homeland Security Information Network, or HSIN, which allows government agencies and local officials to plan, coordinate, and share information and intelligence about major events and respond to emergencies.
The hackers reportedly broke into HSIN servers during late May and early June, potentially exposing information shared using the platform, per Nextgov.
Bleeping Computer quoted a DHS spokesperson as saying that the department is “aware of a recent cyber incident involving a specific, unclassified legacy information sharing environment.”
It’s unclear what data was stolen or how much was taken, and a spokesperson for Homeland Security did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment about the incident. A previously reported security lapse during 2023 revealed that HSIN contained personal information shared among law enforcement related to the surveillance of Americans.
