Whistleblower Reveals Potential Data Breach of US Residents’ Personal Information by Elon Musk’s DOGE Team
In the wake of students’ return to school, a self-proclaimed leader from an online group dubbed “Purgatory” spoke to media about a series of swattings at universities across the United States. This violent group allegedly has ties to the loosely structured cybercriminal network known as The Com, and the leader claimed responsibility for placing hoax active-shooter alerts.
This week, researchers from multiple organizations warned that cybercriminals are increasingly leveraging generative AI tools to bolster ransomware attacks. These malicious actors, even those lacking technical expertise, are using AI to develop their malware. Additionally, a mysterious shortwave Russian radio station named UVB-76 appears to have been repurposed as a tool for Kremlin propaganda following decades of enigma and intrigue.
Every week, we compile security and privacy news that wasn’t covered in depth by our team. Click the headlines to read the full stories. Stay safe out there.
Since its creation, concerns have been raised about the young and inexperienced engineers in Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). These individuals were criticized for disregarding security and privacy rules while handling US government data with apparent recklessness. Now, a whistleblower claims that DOGE staff put at risk a massive dataset containing personal data about US residents, including nearly every American’s Social Security number.
The complaint from the Social Security Administration’s chief data officer, Charles Borges, filed with the Office of the Special Counsel and reviewed by The New York Times, states that DOGE affiliates overruled security and privacy concerns to upload the SSA database to a cloud server with inadequate security monitoring. This potentially violated multiple federal statutes due to the alleged reckless handling of the data.
Internal communications between DOGE and SSA reviewed by The Times show officials disregarding concerns about the data’s lack of sanitization or anonymization before it was uploaded to the server, despite reservations from SSA officials regarding the data’s security during transfer.
Borges did not allege that the data was actually breached or leaked, but he emphasized its vulnerability and the immense cost if compromised. “Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital health care and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for reissuing every American a new Social Security number at great cost,” Borges wrote.
Approximately ten months have passed since China’s cyberespionage group Salt Typhoon was discovered infiltrating US telecoms, eavesdropping on Americans’ calls and texts. Now, the FBI is warning that this hackers’ net may be much broader than previously thought, potentially affecting victims in 80 countries. The bureau’s top cyber official, Brett Leatherman, told The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post that the hackers demonstrated interest in at least 600 companies, though it remains unclear how many of these possible targets were actually breached or what level of access was achieved. “That global indiscriminate targeting really is something that is outside the norms of cyberspace operations,” Leatherman told the Journal. The FBI has reportedly traced Salt Typhoon’s telecom hacking to at least a million call records and targeted the calls and texts of over a hundred Americans.
Following Donald Trump’s Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin, the White House initiated a move to downsize its intelligence ranks. A senior CIA Russia analyst, serving for 29 years and slated for a prestigious overseas post, was suddenly deprived of her clearance according to The Washington Post. She was one of 37 officials dismissed under an August 19 memo from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who listed no infractions. To colleagues, it appeared to be a loyalty purge. These terminations have reportedly unnerved the CIA’s rank and file, sending a message that survival depends on aligning intelligence with the president’s views.
On Monday, Gabbard unveiled what she calls “ODNI 2.0,” a restructuring plan that eliminates more than 500 positions and consolidates or disbands whole offices deemed redundant. The Foreign Malign Influence Center and the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center are being scaled back, while the National Intelligence University will be absorbed into the Pentagon’s defense school. Gabbard asserts that this plan will save $700 million annually and depoliticize intelligence. Critics, however, caution that the overhaul could weaken coordination among intelligence agencies at a time of increasing threats.
