Homeland Security Investigations Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (HOMU-S1768328989)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Homeland Security Investigations breach identified under incident ID HOMU-S1768328989.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Homeland Security Investigations's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/homeland-security-investigations, the number of followers: 29743, the industry type: Law Enforcement and the number of employees: 766 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 764 and after the incident was 674 with a difference of -90 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Homeland Security Investigations and their customers.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently reported "Personal Details of Thousands of Border Patrol and ICE Agents Allegedly Leaked in Huge Data Breach", a noteworthy cybersecurity incident.

A Department of Homeland Security whistleblower allegedly released sensitive details of around 4,500 ICE and Border Patrol employees, including names, work emails, telephone numbers, roles, and some resumé data.

The disruption is felt across the environment, and exposing Names, work emails, telephone numbers, roles, resumé data, previous jobs, with nearly 4,500 records at risk.

In response, and stakeholders are being briefed through DHS statement on risks to staff safety; public advisories on the breach.

The case underscores how Ongoing, teams are taking away lessons such as Need for stronger internal accountability mechanisms within DHS; risks of whistleblower leaks in high-profile agencies; importance of protecting law enforcement personnel data, and recommending next steps like Implement stricter access controls for sensitive employee data within DHS, Enhance whistleblower protections and internal reporting channels for misconduct and Improve public communication strategies to address accountability concerns without endangering staff, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering DHS has warned about risks to staff safety due to the leak.

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Phishing: Spearphishing Link (T1566.001) with lower confidence (30%), supported by evidence indicating public submissions to *ICE List*...from hotel staff, bar employees and Trusted Relationship (T1199) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating whistleblower leak...reflects growing internal discontent. Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files (T1552.001) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating names, work emails, telephone numbers, roles, and resumé data. Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Data from Local System (T1005) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating dataset includes names, work emails, phone numbers, job roles and Data from Information Repositories (T1213) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating largest breach of DHS staff data to date. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (T1041) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating leak was published by *ICE List*...operates outside U.S. jurisdiction and Exfiltration Over Web Service: Exfiltration to Cloud Storage (T1567.002) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating published by *ICE List*, a volunteer-run accountability project. Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Data Destruction (T1485) with lower confidence (40%), supported by evidence indicating dHS warned it endangers agents and their families and Defacement: Internal Defacement (T1491.001) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating sparked nationwide outrage...accusing DHS of failing to hold agents accountable. These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.