Former Employee from Cybersecurity Organization Previously Dismissed for Exposing Confidential Information at Doge
Edward, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musk's DOGE gang, found himself in hot water after being fired from a previous cybersecurity company for spilling company secrets, as reported in a new piece by Bloomberg News. In 2022, the young chap was an intern at Arizona-based Path Network, where he was ousted for alleged sharing of confidential information with competitors.
A passage seen by Bloomberg reveals, "Edward has been terminated for leaking internal information to the competitors. This is unacceptable and there is zero tolerance for this." But wait, there's more: Edward boasted on Discord that he still had access to Path Network's systems post-termination, stating, "I have access to every single machine at Path Network, but I never exploited it because it's just not me."
Now, humor might be the last thing on our minds in this situation, yet Edward's online alias was "Big Balls." Sadly, being called such things online is one thing, but having access to America's most sensitive information is another. In fact, as Wired pointed out, Path Network is appreciated for employing reformed blackhat hackers. And yes, you guessed it, Edward is now poking around in the networks of federal agencies.
Musk's DOGE squad was established to ostensibly sniff out waste, fraud, and federal corruption, spearheaded by none other than President Donald Trump. However, a darker reality surfaces when you consider that this cyber posse seems intent on looting each agency they touch, nabbing private information that would make a foreign adversary's day.
USAID is reportedly in the crosshairs, with thousands of staff members potentially losing their jobs in a highly questionable move that would leave a mere 300 left standing. The agency's website was shut down, and employees were placed on leave, with promises to annihilate the agency altogether.
The absence of accountability for DOGE team members can't be ignored, with the White House stating on Wednesday that Musk will handle his own conflicts of interest. In an interesting turn of events, Musk has hinted at rehiring a 25-year-old DOGE employee linked to an account posting profoundly racist content.
Reuters reports on another DOGE staff member, Gavin Kliger, who was retweeting notorious holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and misogynist Andrew Tate. Tate and Fuentes have both enthusiastically made Nazi salutes in online videos, something Musk did twice during Trump's inaugural day.
The most worrisome aspect of DOGE's digital infiltrations might be the reality that 23-year-old Luke Farritor, a former SpaceX intern, was granted access to the Department of Energy, an agency responsible for safeguarding highly sensitive nuclear weapons data. Despite objections from the agency's general counsel and chief information officer, Farritor's access was reportedly greenlit.
The Bloomberg report on Edward's history is alarming but nothing new when it comes to Musk and his loyalty obsession. Essentially, if you're racist, it seems, you're fine in Musk's book.
In the future, concerns about data security may increase as technology evolves, with companies needing to strengthen their protocols to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access. Despite his past mistakes, Edward's expertise in cybersecurity could potentially be valuable for a tech company that prioritizes rehabilitation and second chances.
