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Whistleblower Says DOGE Took Sensitive Labor Data from U.S. Labor Agency
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
An official whistleblower has raised concerns and shared information with Congress and other government institutions about Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) allegedly accessing and exporting sensitive data from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Whistleblower informed Congress about DOGE allegedly accessing and exporting sensitive data from the federal labor agency.
- According to NPR’s report, multiple workers and experts raised concerns over the irregular actions of Musk’s organization team.
- Around 10 gigabytes of data that could contain sensitive information was taken from the NLRB department.
According to an NPR exclusive , a group of members of the DOGE arrived at the NLRB Washington department in March and said they needed to access data for compliance with the Trump administration’s policies and improve efficiency.
However, the whistleblower Daniel Berulis—who shared documents, interviews, and communication records reviewed by NPR—as well as other workers of the NLRB department, noticed significant data being taken away from the agency by DOGE engineers.
The data, which shouldn’t leave the department, could contain information on unions, corporate private information, and details of ongoing legal cases. Berulis, who works in the IT department at the NLRB, explained that the data was the size of around 10 gigabytes, but they couldn’t see exactly what was in it.
According to the whistleblower statements, the DOGE members requested tenant access—the highest level—, that their activities remain unregistered in the log system— which goes against best practices and security standards—and tried to cover tracks with behaviors that cybersecurity experts interviewed by NPR considered similar to what criminal hackers would do.
“The whole idea of removing logging and [getting] tenant-level access is the most disturbing part to me,” said one of the anonymous engineers interviewed by NPR.
NLRB workers also noticed log-in attempts from Russian IP addresses and raised concerns about new vulnerabilities after the intervention of DOGE’s team. The intentions or the reasons why DOGE accessed and removed data are unclear.
“There is no reason whatsoever for accessing the information. Now, could any agency be more efficient? More effective? Positively,” said Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California specializing in labor and information technology, in an interview with NPR. “But what you need for that is people who understand what the agency does. That is not by mining data, putting algorithms in, and creating a breach of security.”
Since the debut of DOGE’s operations this year, many workers, experts, and citizens have warned and raised concerns over the activities of the new government entity managed by Musk. Earlier in March, DOGE deployed the proprietary chatbot GSAi after firing federal workers in massive job cuts. Just a few days ago, the Social Security website crashed after Musk’s team’s intervention .
Image by David Valentine, from Unsplash
4chan Hacked: Leak Exposes Admin Emails And Site Vulnerabilities
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
4chan is reeling from a reported hack that leaked admin emails, backend access, and source code online.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- 4chan suffered a major hack, exposing internal systems and emails.
- Leaked data includes admin usernames, emails, and backend screenshots.
- Hackers claim 4chan ran outdated, unpatched software since 2016.
The controversial message board 4chan is facing a major security breach after users on a rival forum claimed to have hacked the site and leaked internal data.
The platform experienced an outage starting from late Monday while key forums remained inaccessible and users documented unusual behavior throughout the platform, as first reported by WIRED.
Screenshots shared on Soyjak.party, a competing image board, appear to show 4chan’s backend systems and leaked emails of administrators and moderators, reported WIRED .
The competing image board Soyjak.party shared screenshots as evidence of 4chan backend systems alongside leaked administrator and moderator emails.WIRED says that the attackers also claim to have accessed the site’s source code and posted a taunting message: “U GOT HACKED XD.”
“The content leaked, if genuine, would remove some of the anonymity from 4chan administrators, moderators, and janitors” said Ian Gray, director at cybersecurity firm Flashpoint, as reported by WIRED. He noted that 4chan’s image as an anonymous platform may have given users a “false sense of security.
TechCrunch contacted several of the email addresses exposed in the alleged 4chan breach and managed to speak with one of the individuals behind one of them. A 4chan janitor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that they are “confident” the leaked data and screenshots are “all real.”
Meanwhile The Verge reports that Jared Holt, a senior researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, cautioned against some of the wilder claims, especially those about leaked .edu and .gov email addresses, saying, “the source for this claim was not legit.”
The breach may have been possible due to the site running on outdated software. Some say that 4chan has been running on unpatched systems since 2016.
“It seems true that 4chan hasn’t been properly maintained and patched for years, which might indicate that a hack would have definitely been a possibility,” said Emiliano De Cristofaro, professor of computer science at UC Riverside, as reported by WIRED.
The complete extent of the breach remains unknown but experts warn that the consequences will be severe and this incident could potentially lead to the demise of the notorious online community.
