The largest violation of US government data is ongoing

Elon Musk’s active actors have received unprecedented access to a group of US government departments – including agencies responsible for data management for millions of federal employees and a system that deals with 6 trillion dollars of payments for Americans.

During the past two weeks, the MUSK representatives group, a presidential consultant council within the Trump administration, known as the Ministry of Governmental efficiency, or Doug – have Control the most important departments and data groupsDespite questions about their security permits, cybersecurity practices, and the legitimacy of musk activities.

Whether it is an achievement or a coup (completely dependent on your point of view), a small group of Most of them are young people of the private sector From Musk and its partners – many have any previous government experience – they can now see, and in some cases, they control the most sensitive federal government data for millions of Americans and the nearest country allies.

The access to the Musk’s Doga team is the largest compromise known for the federal government-controlled data by a special group of individuals-and they have not preceded their way.

Dog acknowledged some details about her continuous activities. I left this task to the media, which reported doubtful cybersecurity and collapsing in the long -term cybersecurity standards that risk the government’s sensitive data from reaching it by the neglotes.

Many Dog’s works are to avoid censorship and transparency, and leave open questions about whether cyberspace and privacy practices are followed. It is not clear whether DOGE employees are following the procedures to prevent these data from accessing them by other people, or if any other steps are taken to protect sensitive data on Americans.

So far, evidence indicates that security is not at the top of the mind.

For example, it is said that a Doj employee Use a personal Gmail account to reach a government callRecently deposited A lawsuit by federal violations The claims requested that DJ recommended that an unauthorized email server be delivered to the government network, which violates the Federal Privacy Law.

Whether DOGE employees are bad actors who miss part of this point. Deception, espionage or ignorance can produce the same optimal result: exposure or loss of sensitive data groups in the country.

Currently, it is worth seeing how we get here.

Double security permits

The ease that Dog seized on the departments and its wide shops from American data has taken US job officials and legislators, who continue to request answers from the Trump administration.

Musk’s efforts also sparked control of the country’s databases that cybersecurity who are particularly disturbed, and some of whom spent their professional life in the government dedicated to securing the most sensitive systems and data for Americans.

Questions about the level of security permit that DOGE employees and whether temporary security clearance gives them the authority to demand access to restricted federal regulations. When returning to his position, Trump The executive order signed Allowing the officials of the administration to grant the “Secret of the Higher” and the divided security clearance of individuals on a temporary basis with a large or non -existence, a sharp departure from the long protocols.

The confusion about DOGE’s permits has led to short confrontations between many job officials in federal administrations in recent days. At the USAID Agency (USAID), senior officials were placed on vacation after standing on the Doug employees to protect classified information, According to Associated Press. Dog was later access to the American -classified facility for International Development, which has been reported to contain intelligence reports.

Katie Miller, Dog Adviser, said in Posted on X No material classified by Dog “without appropriate security permits” has been accessed, despite the details of the team’s statement It is still not specifiedIncluding the number of people who obtained temporary secret permits.

numerous Senior legislators of the Senate Selection Committee for Intelligence He said Wednesday that they are still looking for answers about Dog and what clearance that its members possess.

“No information has been provided to Congress or the public about who was officially appointed under Duwaj, according to the authority or the regulations that do Dog, or how Dog is examining and monitoring its employees and representatives before providing an uninterrupted access to the apparently classified materials and the books of the Senate.

Dog’s seizure of the government

Within a week of President Trump’s inauguration – and Its executive order creates Doge Musk staff began to infiltrate a variety of federal agencies. Sensitive payments systems in the US Treasury, which contained personal information for millions of Americans receiving payments from the government, were from the tax recovered amounts to social security checks, from the first.

Doug also has I gained access To the Personnel Management Office, the Ministry of Human Resources affiliated with the government, which includes databases on personal information for all federal workers, and the United States of America, which is He has data Applicants who have applied for a federal job.

OPM officials said they have no vision or supervision of the Musk team’s access to its systems. They told Reuters: “It creates true cybersecurity and the effects of piracy,” they told Reuters.

Dog’s activity led to widespread opposition, including some Republicans.

Senator Ron Widen, which is one of the greatest great democracy in the Senate Finance Committee, Musk’s access to sensitive federal payments systems is called national security risksGiven the conflict of interests on its wide commercial operations in China. A group of major Democrats later said In a message to the treasury This Dog’s access to sensitive government data “can harm unorganized national security.”

In a post on Bluezki, Stewart Stevens, the previous republican strategy Call the acquisition Among the treasury systems is “the most important data leakage in the history of the Internet”, adding: “Ordinary individuals in data work now have access to your social security information.”

Cabinet She defended her transfer to grant access to sensitive payment systems to the administrationEmphasizing in a response not to the democratic lawmakers that the Musk Doge team can access the treasury banks from personal information about the Americans. The message confirms Tom Crawr, CEO Group of cloud softwareThat has Citrix and many other technology companies, is now a cabinet employee. Krause did not return a request to comment.

Dog has since managed to reach multiple sensitive internal systems in the Ministry of Education, including data groups It contains personal information about millions of students registered in financial aid. Doug staff also A student “access to all” small business management systemsIncluding contracts, payments and human resources information.

Musk team According to what was reported, he can reach To the payment systems within the US Department of Health and Humanitarian Services, and Access to data In the American agency that manages medical and medical care. Dog is also Access to employee systems In the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Plan to reach the systems In the Ministry of Transport.

Local and international repercussions

There are indescribable security risks that come from granting access to the essence of the internal data of the United States government to a group of unacceptable individuals and individuals who suffer from a false examination.

For example, but not limited to, it can control some things that may be mistaken: access to the government network from a non -approved computer that houses harmful programs to bargaining on other devices on the federal network and allowing to steal sensitive government information, regardless of if It was classified. And the abuse of personal information on the devices or cloud environments that did not meet the standards of the most important government security specifications, or use the most powerful safety control elements, expose these data to the risk of concession or leakage.

These are not likely scenarios. These types of violations occur all the time.

Watch last year alone Some of the largest data violations in history because of The arrival of harmful acquired through the personal devices of the company’s employeesWho accidentally installed harmful programs by downloading the KNOCK-FF program on their personal computers and not using appropriate safety protection such as multi-factor authentication. Any compromise of the team’s adoption or access data, or any incorrect processing of sensitive data rules may lead to the loss of sensitive or bad government data.

Perhaps the most anxious is a dog, and its activities, operating outside the general audit.

It is said that officials and legislators assigned to government supervision do not have an insight into the data they can access within the government or what are the controls or protection of cybersecurity – if any. The departments professionals who have spent a lot of their career can not protect access to data stored in these systems to do a lot, but they stand and see as individuals who do not have a somewhat few government experience, they invaded the most sensitive data groups.

Technology and Privacy Lawyer Cathy Gillis, Writing in TechdirtMusk and its DOGE team probably argue “a personal official” under the US Federal Piracy Law, known as the Fraud and Mismanage on Computer, which covers access to federal systems without appropriate permission. Gillis ultimately wrote, in the end, Dog’s activity should be determined as “unauthorized arrival” and therefore illegal.

There is also a question of how the US governments respond to the United States to calculate the data of its inhabitants at the federal level. American states have data breach laws that require the protection of their citizens’ data, even if the federal government is not. Whether the Musk team arrives at federal systems raises legal procedures from states still should be seen.

It also puts relations with the United States and its diplomatic allies on a shaky land. Allied nations You may not want to share intelligence information with the United States government If they believe that information can leak, spill in the public domain, or be lost in another way as a result of the collapse of cybersecurity practices that aim to protect sensitive information.

Indeed, the consequences of cybersecurity may not be the continuous access to Dog to federal departments and data groups known for some time.

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