The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it is investigating a cyberattack on one of its information-sharing networks.
In an official statement, DHS acknowledged a “recent cyber incident” involving what it described as an “unclassified legacy information sharing environment.” The agency offered no additional details and did not answer follow-up questions from reporters.
GovExec, the outlet that first broke the story, identified the affected system as the Homeland Security Information Network — a platform used to share sensitive, though unclassified, data with a range of partners including foreign law enforcement agencies, local authorities, and other organizations. Citing two anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter, GovExec reported the breach is believed to have taken place sometime between late May and early June.
U.S. Senator Mark Warner, the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, weighed in on the seriousness of the situation. He noted that the data moving through the network, “while not classified, is highly sensitive, and its exposure risks national security.”
Senator Warner urged both DHS and the Justice Department to “thoroughly investigate” the incident, calling for answers on who carried out the breach and exactly what information was accessed or exposed.
