The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is probing a cyber breach in an unclassified legacy information-sharing system used for the exchange of sensitive data with law enforcement partners.
The breach includes the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN), which oversees the sharing of sensitive but unclassified information with foreign law enforcement, local authorities, and other organizations.
DHS confirmed Thursday it was investigating a “recent cyber incident” involving an “unclassified legacy information sharing environment.”
The Department did not immediately return a request for comment from The Epoch Times.
The agency provided no additional details on the scope of the compromise, when it occurred, or who might be responsible.
The incident is thought to have occurred sometime between late May and early June.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, underscored the potential risks.
“The information in HSIN, while not classified, is highly sensitive, and its exposure risks national security,” Warner said in a statement. “DHS and DOJ must thoroughly investigate who breached HSIN, what the attackers accessed, and ensure all DHS partners are provided with timely information and the tools necessary to mitigate any associated risks from the breach.”
He said DHS must ensure such a breach does not happen again.
“The homeland security community needs to have confidence that the information in HSIN is secure, and the American public needs to be able to trust that the Department responsible for America’s cybersecurity has its own house in order,” he said.
He called on DHS and the Justice Department to “thoroughly investigate” the breach and found what was compromised.
In 2020, DHS confirmed widespread cyber breaches across the federal government connected to the SolarWinds supply chain attack, leading to emergency directives to agencies.
“The Department of Homeland Security is aware of cyber breaches across the federal government and working closely with our partners in the public and private sector on the federal response,” Alexei Woltornist, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said at the time.
“As the federal lead for cyber breaches of civilian federal agencies, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has already issued Emergency Directive 21-01 to the federal government to address compromises related to SolarWinds.”
That breach entailed nation-state actors exploiting software updates to access numerous government and private systems.
Moreover, federal advisories warned in 2024 of Chinese state-linked hackers deploying broad espionage campaigns targeting U.S. entities, including telecom providers and government systems.
Reuters contributed to this report.
