Image by Gage Skidmore, from Wikimeadia Commons

Retirees Panic As Social Security Site Fails Under DOGE Oversight

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The Social Security Administration’s website has been crashing repeatedly, leaving millions of people, especially retirees and disabled individuals, unable to access their accounts, file claims, or check their benefits.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

• The Social Security website experienced crashes which prevented retirees and disabled users from accessing their benefits.
• The DOGE team led by Elon Musk requires the agency to reduce its technical staff by half.
• The combination of staff reductions and system breakdowns disrupted both office locations and telephone services.

The Washington Post notes that the power outages coincide with Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team, DOGE, pushing for thousands more job cuts across the agency—including in the technology department that manages the site.

The site has been down several times in the last few weeks, sometimes for almost a full day. Even when it is working, many users are unable to log in, or they find that information is missing or incorrect. The officials said that the problems are partly due to a new fraud-check system that was introduced without testing for high traffic, as reported by The Post.

The most alarming breakdown affected the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) system. For nearly two days, 7.4 million people saw a message falsely stating they weren’t receiving payments. The checks were still deposited, but the scare led to panic, as reported by The Post.

“Social Security’s response has been, ‘Oops,’” said Darcy Milburn from The Arc, an advocacy group for people with disabilities, as reported by The Post. “It’s woefully insufficient when we’re talking about a government agency that’s holding someone’s lifeline in their hands,” she added.

Meanwhile, the AP reports that a federal appeals court on Monday restored DOGE’s access to sensitive data at several agencies, including the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management. The court decision lifted the restriction on DOGE data access while the lawsuit from teachers’ unions and veterans groups continues.

The current restriction on Social Security data access remains in place, but opponents worry that the restored access could lead to further breaches of privacy and expanded oversight by Musk’s team. The court majority sided with the Trump administration, arguing that IT upgrades may justify administrator-level access, as reported by the AP.

The Post reports that the company has discharged 7,000 staff members while announcing additional job reductions are coming. A senior official revealed that the company plans to terminate 800 employees from its current 3,000-person technology staff. The new CIO Scott Coulter who shares Musk’s views as an analyst has ordered IT to reduce its workforce by half.

At field offices, workers are overwhelmed. Systems to book and track appointments have crashed three times in 10 days. “We’re just spiking like crazy,” said a senior official, as reported by The Post. “It’s the sheer massive volume of freaked-out people,” he added.

The Post argues that the situation may get worse after April 14 when new ID checks are introduced for people applying for benefits online. The officials admitted the outages are under investigation but described them as “brief disruptions.”

Meanwhile, customers across the country are struggling. In California, 72-year-old Kathy Stecher couldn’t book an appointment online for days. In New York, 67-year-old Robert Raniolo tried for five days to update his emergency contact but kept getting error messages. “That’s why it’s so frustrating to me I can’t make a simple transaction,” he said, as reported by The Post.

In Massachusetts, Chris Hubbard panicked when she logged into her autistic son’s account and saw no record of benefits. “My mind was racing,” she said, as reported by The post. “The whole thing was very alarming,” she added.

New AI Tool Xanthorox Operates Off-Grid

Xanthorox AI Raises Alarm With Offline, Undetectable Cybercrime Capabilities

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

A powerful new AI tool called Xanthorox has surfaced in cybercrime forums, raising concerns among cybersecurity experts.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

• Xanthorox AI functions as a self-contained malicious cybercriminal tool which operates independently.
• The system operates independently and evades detection through its custom-developed models.
• The tool generates malware that allows it to evade protection from Windows Defender standard defenses.

Discovered by researchers at SlashNext , it functions as a complete self-hosted cybercrime platform that operates independently from popular AI systems including ChatGPT and Claude.

First spotted in early 2025, Xanthorox is being promoted as a “Killer of WormGPT and all EvilGPT variants.” The researchers say that Xanthorox differs from previous tools because it was developed from scratch. Xanthorox operates as a local server-based system with five modular models which enables offline usage, and complicates detection efforts.

Screenshots show one of its components, Xanthorox Coder produces ransomware which bypasses Windows Defender. Xanthorox Vision serves as an image and diagram analysis tool, while Xanthorox Reasoner Advanced creates decisions through human-like processes.

The system contains voice functionality and search capabilities which can extract data from more than 50 search engines.

“It’s easy to think of the cybercriminal ecosystem as one big amorphous blob of badness, when in reality it operates much like any service and platform industry — with different groups focusing on and specializing in their unique contribution to the overall kill chain, and ‘startups’ like this one popping up to create a competitive advantage for criminals,” said Bugcrowd founder Casey Ellis, as reported by SC Media .

What makes Xanthorox especially dangerous is its ability to operate without internet access, public APIs, or commercial cloud tools. It can process various file types like .pdf, .txt, and .c files — extracting, rewriting, or analyzing them to support cyber operations. SlashNext researchers were able to view some of its features through videos and screenshots shared by the developer.

“If the threat actor’s claims are true, Xanthorox is less susceptible to detection and takedown than similar malicious tools,” said Stephen Kowski, Field CTO at SlashNext, as reported by SC Media.

With the use of AI in phishing and malware campaigns growing rapidly, security firms warn that tools like Xanthorox could mark a turning point in AI-driven cybercrime.

As SlashNext researcher Daniel Kelley noted to SC Media, “Even if Xanthorox doesn’t meet every expectation, the technology to build something similar is available, and we’ll likely see systems like it emerge soon.”