CBP Facility Codes Sure Seem to Have Leaked Via Online Flashcards

A user on Quizlet, an online learning platform, created a public record in February that appears to have revealed highly classified information about security procedures at U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities around Kingsville, Texas.

The Quizlet set, titled “USBP Review,” was publicly available until March 20, when it was made private less than half an hour after WIRED sent a message with a phone number potentially linked to the Quizlet user. Although a person with the user’s name was listed at an apartment address less than a mile from a CBP facility in Kingsville, WIRED was unable to verify that the flashcard set was created by an active CBP agent or contractor.

“This incident is under review by the CBP Office of Professional Responsibility,” a CBP spokesperson wrote in a statement to WIRED. “We are not going to preempt this review. A review should not be taken as an indication of wrongdoing.”

The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to a request for comment.

If the Quizlet set was created by an individual associated with CBP, it represents a serious security breach for an agency created to “safeguard the American homeland.”

Quizlet’s public set contained information on alleged codes for specific facility entries. “Checkpoint gate code?” » » asked a card, with a specific four-digit combination listed in response. Another asks for the code of a specific door of the establishment, always with an exact combination indicated as the answer. Two other gate codes have been described in this way, but WIRED does not use the gate names because it is unclear whether they are confidential.

Another set of cards outlined certain immigration offenses and associated federal charges: passport misuse, visa fraud or misuse, and fleeing a checkpoint. The cards regarding Voluntary Return to Countries Outside the United States, Expedited Removal and Warrant of Removal outlined the forms that needed to be completed, then offered a reminder about a checklist on what’s called an “officer resource page” to ensure “all of the above is accurate.”

“We take reports of sensitive or inappropriate content seriously and act quickly when content is found to violate our policies,” a Quizlet spokesperson wrote in a statement. “We encourage anyone who encounters concerning material to report it directly from the flashcard deck, class, or profile page, or to contact us so we can review it and take appropriate action.”

Other maps offered detailed information about the Kingsville workforce’s 1,932-square-mile area of ​​responsibility, including all six county lines, as well as the agency’s internal grid and area organization system. A grid “does not exist,” one map notes, due to the structure of local highways.

Another map names the 11 CBP “towers” ​​in the region. (Some tower names correspond to gates and codes that WIRED is withholding due to their potential confidentiality.) The map notes the abbreviated names of two towers and the shared responsibility area of ​​a third tower.

The latest map detailed an apparent internal system, “E3 BEST,” that allows officers to “record, investigate, and adjudicate secondary referrals at USBP checkpoints” by allowing them to “simultaneously query subjects and vehicles through multiple law enforcement databases and create e3 events for referrals resulting in an arrest.”

This potential exposure of confidential information comes amid a rapid increase in hiring at CBP, with up to $60,000 in recruitment and retention incentives available for some new agents. ICE is also looking to hire quickly, with its plan offering a $50,000 signing bonus and up to $60,000 in student loan repayment.