The US government says it has been hacked – again

The Department of Homeland Security is said to be investigating the hack of its platform, which is used by federal, state and local governments and law enforcement to share intelligence, with a top lawmaker warning that the information leak could jeopardize national security.

News sites Nextgovwhich first reported the incident, and Sleeping computer DHS officials are investigating a cyberattack on its Homeland Security Information Network, or HSIN, which allows state agencies and local officials to plan, coordinate and share information and intelligence about major events and respond to emergencies, a report says.

Hackers reportedly broke into HSIN’s servers during late May and early June, potentially exposing information shared using the platform, according to Nextgov.

Bleeping Computer quoted a DHS spokesperson as saying that the department is “aware of a recent cyber incident involving a specific legacy, unclassified information-sharing environment.”

It’s not clear what data was stolen or how much was taken, and a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment on the incident. A the previousSI usually mentioned a security breach During 2023, it revealed that HSIN contained personal information shared among law enforcement related to the surveillance of Americans.

The incident involving HSIN puts new scrutiny on the government’s ability to defend the cybersecurity of its own systems, after more than a year of deep cuts across the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security and its cybersecurity agency CISA, under the Trump administration.

Mark Warner, a Democratic senator representing Virginia who also serves as the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that while the intelligence being shared about HSIN is unclassified, the information is “highly sensitive, and its disclosure threatens national security.” In a statement.

The HSIN platform supports World Cup matches currently underway in the United States, and was also used last year to manage the coronavirus response, Warner said. Mid-air collision An American Airlines plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter crash over Washington, D.C., killing 67 people.

The identity, affiliations and motives of the hackers who targeted HSIN are not known, but the hack represents the latest security vulnerability to impact the federal government over the past year.

Since the Trump administration took office in January 2025, the federal government has been subject to several major cybersecurity breaches, including Exchanging secret information and war plans Through apps like Signal that are not licensed for government use,… Federal databases raided Personal information of Americans by members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and Public spilling of a large number of passwords and credentials has been reported By a CISA contractor who exposed access to government cloud systems.

Earlier this year, the FBI notified lawmakers in Congress It had to declare a ‘major cyber incident’ After revealing the phone numbers of targets being monitored by federal agents, which could give those adversaries a potential advantage.

Do you know more about the DHS cyberattack on HSIN? We would love to hear from you. To contact Zack Whittaker securely, contact the Signal username zackwhittaker.1337 or email: zack.whittaker@techcrunch.com.