DOGE accessing Treasury systems and classified data breaks a fundamental security principle and could help the US' adversaries steal data and install backdoors
The U.S. government has experienced what may be the most consequential security breach in its history.
Context & Ripple Effects
The report frames DOGE's Treasury access as a failure to preserve security boundaries around sensitive government systems. Later coverage broadens that concern: sources described a planned centralized database of residents' personal information, while an investigation tied three Treasury hacks to missing security measures.
The story also sits amid institutional disruption. DOGE's reported termination notices to long-serving government IT experts put established technical expertise at risk, making access controls and operational continuity a central issue rather than a narrow permissions dispute.
First-order effects
- Treasury systems and classified data may face an enlarged exposure window if access was not tightly authorized, increasing the immediate need to review permissions, credentials, logs, and system integrity for potential unauthorized changes.
- DOGE and Treasury become directly accountable for demonstrating that access followed security controls and that sensitive systems were not left vulnerable to data theft or persistent backdoors.
Second-order effects
- A reported move toward consolidating personal data could compound the problem: a centralized repository of sensitive records would raise the consequences of any weak access boundary or compromised administrator account.
- Other agencies handling high-value records are likely to face pressure to reassess DOGE-linked access, particularly after reporting that Treasury's prior hacks reflected unaddressed security measures.
Third-order effects
- If access to federal systems is repeatedly expanded without durable oversight and segregation of duties, government cybersecurity may shift from protecting individual systems to managing a shared cross-agency blast radius.
- The broader pattern points to security governance—not merely technical tooling—as a constraint on rapid administrative restructuring, with auditability and independent control of privileged access becoming more important.
The trend: This is one data point in a wider trend in which centralized government data access and rapid institutional change test the security boundaries designed to limit systemic compromise.
Related: Trusted-tool boundary · DOGE · Treasury · Treasury hacks and missing security measures · DOGE's planned centralized personal-data database
Related Coverage
- The Government's Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified The Atlantic
- Cybersecurity, government experts are aghast at security failures in DOGE takeover CyberScoop · Derek B. Johnson
- DOGE Staffer Previously Fired From Cybersecurity Company for Leaking Secrets Gizmodo · Matt Novak
- Lawmakers fear Elon Musk, DOGE not adhering to privacy rules CyberScoop · Tim Starks
- Is DOGE a cybersecurity threat? A security expert explains the dangers of violating protocols and regulations that protect government computer systems The Conversation · Richard Forno
- A ‘national security nightmare.’ Why Musk's DOGE is triggering alarm bells in the intel world. Christian Science Monitor · Anna Mulrine Grobe
- DOGE inputs federal data to AI, cyber leaders discuss implications Security Magazine · Jordyn Alger
- Bennet, Senate Intelligence Colleagues Push Trump Administration to Address DOGE Threat to National Security, American Privacy U.S. Senator Michael Bennet · Eric Jones
- Marko Elez “Resigned” the Day His Write Access to Payment Systems Was Discovered emptywheel
- DOGE team member fired from cybersecurity internship for leaking company information The Independent · Gustaf Kilander
- Cybersecurity group sues DOGE over data access Mashable · Alex Perry
- Elon Musk's IT makeover concerns hit fever pitch Axios · Sam Sabin
- Musk's DOGE Ally Has Demanded ‘Admin Rights’ To Critical Government IT Services Forbes · Cyrus Farivar
- Insider threats loom as Elon Musk's team gains swift government access Axios · Sam Sabin
- Musk's “move fast, break things” ethos threatens U.S. security Axios · Sam Sabin
- Lawsuit accuses Trump administration of violating federal information security law The Record · Suzanne Smalley
- Lawsuits over security concerns with DOGE are piling up American Banker · Carter Pape
- Trump executive order vows substantial cuts to federal workforce Washington Post
- Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old DOGE member, was fired by cybersecurity firm Path Network from an internship in June 2022 for allegedly leaking info to rivals Fortune
- A profile of Tom Krause, the CEO of Cloud Software Group, which runs government software security company Citrix, as he works with DOGE to cut federal staff Bloomberg
- Security savant Bruce Schneier argues adversaries will be quick to exploit the chaos caused by DOGE's access to critical US gov't computer systems. The systems should be considered compromised and need to be reset, he writes. #infosec https://foreignpolicy.com/... @jkirk@infosec.exchange · Jeremy Kirk
- Holy crap. — “It's as if someone found a way to rob Fort Knox by simply declaring that the new official policy is to fire all the guards and allow unescorted visits to the vault. The implications for national security are staggering.” — https://foreignpolicy.com/... @Lurkle@mstdn.social
- Strong story on one of Musk's Doge heavies, if you have a Bloomberg login. Not only is a private equity approach risky for a government operation, its cost-cutting and opacity make major security flaws more likely, including in security products used by ,gov. https://www.bloomberg.com/... @JosephMenn@infosec.exchange · JosephMenn
- [flagged] DOGE's Cyberattack Against America news.ycombinator.com
Discussion
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@annamerlan
Anna Merlan
on bluesky
I wrote about how federal offices are transforming physically under DOGE: harder to get into, less functional, and at USAID, secure intelligence cables literally impossible to access in a closed-off building. It is, in the words of one source, “incredibly stupid.” www.motherjone…
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@greene.haus
Greg Greene
on bluesky
The country may well need a gut and rebuild of the whole damned stack, hardware and software, once all this is through. Musk had better not get a red cent for it.
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@kottke@mastodon.social
@kottke@mastodon.social
on mastodon
Security expert Bruce Schneier & digital ethicist Davi Ottenheimer: “The U.S. government has experienced what may be the most consequential security breach in its history.” And: “This is beyond politics — this is a matter of national security.” https://foreignpolicy.com/...
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@dangillmor@mastodon.social
Dan Gillmor
on mastodon
From two of the most knowledgeable digital security experts in the world: — “The U.S. government has experienced what may be the most consequential security breach in its history.” — And the perpetrators are being rewarded. — https://foreignpolicy.com/...
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@cwarzel
Charlie Warzel
on threads
From a person w/ intimate knowledge of the FAA's technical systems. To say they're concerned is an understatement. These are systems you do not fuck around with. Even small, subtle changes, can ripple through systems which all feed into each other, and keep planes in the sky, …
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@realmiafarrow
Mia Farrow
on threads
Trump just signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to work with DOGE giving Musk even more power than he has already amassed. “The order installs a “DOGE Team Lead” at each agency and gives that person oversight over hiring decisions.” https://www.washingtonpost.com…
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@cwarzel
Charlie Warzel
on threads
New: We spoke to government IT employees/contractors about DOGE. Their warnings were dire. The people who maintain the systems that keep the country working are terrified. “This is the largest data breach and the largest IT security breach in our country's history—at least tha…
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@alexckaufman
Alexander C. Kaufman
on x
A DOE official warned the new Energy secretary against allowing 23-year-old DOGE employee Luke Farritor access to the agency's cybersecurity systems, including the network that feeds into the National Nuclear Security Administration. Chris Wright approved access anyway. [image]
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@senangusking
Senator Angus King
on x
Under no circumstances should Elon Musk & DOGE staffers with no security clearances have access to veterans' personal medical information. I'm calling on VA Secretary Collins to step in and put a stop to this blatant violation of veterans' privacy. [video]
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@josephpolitano
@josephpolitano
on x
like 4 days ago it was criminal doxxing to name the DOGE teens on this site, now it is totally fine to name and shame a random Federal employee because she's the daughter of a judge Elon dislikes. OK [image]
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@gregpmiller
Greg Miller
on x
Two OPM officials said the level of access granted to DOGE agents means they could copy the social security numbers, phone numbers and personnel files for millions of federal employees. One official recalled a meeting in which a young DOGE team member began screaming at senior
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@clarajeffery
Clara Jeffery
on x
2/ Under one of his on-line aliases, JoeyCrafter, he posted to Telegram sites about the Nazi site Daily Stormer and also Kiwi Farms... [image]
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@rparloff
Roger Parloff
on x
.@propublica reporting that DOGE engineers at USAID became “super administrators” with access to SSNs, credit histories, & info gathered during security clearance background checks. https://www.propublica.org/... [image]
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@isaacstanbecker
Isaac Stanley-Becker
on x
We spoke to people inside OPM and got access to documents and audio revealing the extent of the control gained by DOGE agents over personally identifiable information for millions of federal employees, which security officials say could create devastating vulnerabilities [image]
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@samwcyo
Sam Curry
on x
After Googling Kyle Schutt's name, we found a (now deleted) GitHub account which referenced him as the CTO of a company called Outburst Data. There were still more Google results for the Cloudflare account ID, so we went back to Google and continued down the list. [image]
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@samwcyo
Sam Curry
on x
After digging into Outburst Data, we found a number of different subdomains related to AMERICA PAC, DOGE, and WinRed hosted on the same Outburst Data API domain. - doge-25f.outburstapi[.]com = DOGE - ampac.outburstapi[.]com = AMERICA PAC And a few more in the screenshot. [image]
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@samwcyo
Sam Curry
on x
We saw the same Cloudflare ID on the AMERICA PAC website, showing that the account was being used to a host a number of different Elon Musk related websites. [image]
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@clarajeffery
Clara Jeffery
on x
1/ So @jasonleopold just posted a big story about one of Elon Musk's DOGE goons, the 19-yo Edward Coristine, who was fired from a data-security firm internship for...sharing company secrets. (gift link) https://www.bloomberg.com/...
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r/politics
r
on reddit
Musk's “move fast, break things” ethos threatens U.S. security
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r/privacy
r
on reddit
Musk's DOGE Is Hacking America | The U.S. government has experienced what may be the most consequential security breach in its history.
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r/technology
r
on reddit
DOGE Staffer Previously Fired From Cybersecurity Company for Leaking Secrets
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r/cybersecurity
r
on reddit
Cybersecurity, government experts are aghast at security failures in DOGE takeover
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@dell
Dell Cameron
on bluesky
Musk in a pattern now of turning Musk/Thiel executives into federal CIOs: www.wired.com/story/elon-m... By @makenakelly.bsky.social [image]
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@brbarrett
Brian Barrett
on bluesky
Government CIOs hold the keys to everything, basically. You'll never guess who the Trump administration has been putting in those roles. from @makenakelly.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
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@katie-drummond
Katie Drummond
on bluesky
NEW from @makenakelly.bsky.social: Chief Information Officers of at least three federal agencies have been replaced by Silicon Valley execs, including from Palantir and SpaceX. — This could make it easier for DOGE engineers to access sensitive government systems: — www.wired.…
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@makenakelly
Makena Kelly
on bluesky
NEW: Former Palantir and Elon Musk Associates Are Taking Over Key Government IT Roles — www.wired.com/story/elon-m...