The website ICE List, also known as the (ICE List Wiki), was crippled by a major cyber attack after it prepared to publish the identities of thousands of federal agents in the United States, particularly those associated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE.
The site’s founder, Netherlands-based activist Dominick Skinner, confirmed that a massive DDoS attack began flooding their servers on Tuesday evening last week.
For your information, a DDoS attack works by flooding a website with so much fake traffic that it eventually crashes. Skinner told reporters that the length and intensity of this attack suggest a deliberate, organised effort to keep the leaked information from reaching the public.
The Shooting That Sparked the Leak
According to The Daily Beast, the data at the centre of this battle was provided by a whistleblower from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The leak reportedly includes the names, personal phone numbers, and work histories of roughly 4,500 employees from ICE and Border Patrol.
Further probing revealed that the whistleblower was moved to act following the death of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026.
Within hours of the shooting, activists managed to identify the agent involved as Jonathan E. Ross. Skinner noted that for the whistleblower, this tragic incident was the “last straw,” leading them to hand over a dataset full of work emails, job titles, and résumé-style background info.
Identifying the Attackers
While the site is back online, Skinner observed that much of the malicious traffic appeared to originate from a bot farm in Russia. However, it is nearly impossible to track the true source, as in the world of hacking, proxies are often used to bounce signals through different countries to hide a person’s tracks. Skinner described the attack as “sophisticated,” suggesting that the attackers are highly determined to keep the names hidden.
Skinner’s team continues to operate out of the Netherlands to stay beyond the immediate reach of US authorities. Despite the crash, they remain committed to the project with plans to move to more secure servers. They plan to publish most of the names, though they intend to omit certain staff members, such as nurses or childcare workers.