US Customs & Border Patrol

CBP Says Thousands of Traveler Photos Stolen in ‘Malicious Cyber-Attack’

The breach happened at one of the agency’s subcontractors and didn’t involve any data collected under its facial recognition program, officials said.

Customs and Border Protection officials on Monday said personal information the agency collected on travelers entering and exiting the U.S. was exposed in “a malicious cyber-attack.”

The breach occurred after one of CBP’s subcontractors illegally transferred images of travelers and license plate photos collected by the agency to its internal networks, which were then compromised by the attack, according to a CBP spokesperson. The agency declined to name the subcontractor that was compromised.

Related: Border Disorder: Trump Can’t Figure Out How to Keep His Biggest Promise

Related: Trump’s Border Obsession Is Courting Disaster

Related: No Military Threat on Southern US Border, Says NORTHCOM Commander

The breach exposed photos of fewer than 100,000 people traveling in their vehicles “through a few specific lanes at a single land border port of entry,” a CBP official said in an update Monday night. The images were taken over a period of roughly one and a half months, the official said, and no other identifying information was included with the images.

No photos from passports or other government travel documents were stolen in the breach, nor were any of the images collected through CBP’s biometric entry and exit program, according to the official.

As of June 10, the agency said none of the images had been identified “on the Dark Web or internet,” and they will continue to monitor for any “unauthorized disclosure.” The agency said officials were first made aware of the breach on May 31.

According to the spokesperson, early evidence indicated the subcontractor had violated the security and privacy protocols outlined in the agreement. None of the agency’s internal networks or databases were infiltrated during the breach, they said.

“CBP has removed from service all equipment related to the breach and is closely monitoring all CBP work by the subcontractor,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The agency has already alerted Congress, other law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity organizations about the breach, and they are investigating the incident, according to the spokesperson.

Though the agency wouldn’t name the breached contractor, the Washington Post reported an early copy of CBP’s public statement included the name “Perceptics” in the title. Perceptics, a Tennessee-based company that’s worked with CBP since 1982, had been hacked last month, according to Motherboard. The company’s license plate readers are reportedly deployed at dozens of checkpoints along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In recent years, CBP has expanded its use of biometric technology to keep tabs on the people entering and exiting the country. The agency currently has facial recognition systems deployed in some capacity at 16 airports and three border checkpoints around the country, and it plans to ramp up those efforts significantly in the years ahead.

Though officials said no biometric information was exposed in the breach, critics of the technology used the incident to highlight the potential risks of the government collecting such sensitive personal information.

“Government use of biometric and personal identifiable information can be valuable tools only if utilized properly,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement on the recent data breach. “Unfortunately, this is the second major privacy breach at DHS this year,” he said, referring to a leak that exposed information on 2.3 million disaster survivors collected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Thompson said he plans to hold a hearing on the Homeland Security Department’s use of biometric information in July.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated with additional statements from Customs and Border Protection.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.