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A whistleblower at the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has come forward with allegations of a significant cybersecurity breach involving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), overseen by Elon Musk. According to the whistleblower, Daniel Berulis, DOGE operatives arrived at the agency in early March and were granted unrestricted access to internal systems, a move that deviated from standard operating procedures. The whistleblower claims that these DOGE employees ignored infosec rules and were instructed to hand over any requested accounts and stay out of DOGE’s way.

According to the affidavit submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee, these actions led to a "significant cybersecurity breach" potentially exposing the agency's data to foreign adversaries. The whistleblower also alleges that during their activity, DOGE employees exfiltrated 10GB of data to servers in the US and disabled monitoring tools, raising concerns about potential data exposure. Berulis’s document points out that not even his CIO enjoyed the level of access given to DOGE unit operatives, and that the NLRB already had auditor accounts set up that provided enough privileges to check data without being able to edit, copy, or remove it.

The most alarming aspect of the allegations involves attempted access to the NLRB's systems from a Russian IP address using legitimate accounts created by DOGE staffers. These attempts were reportedly blocked, but the valid credentials used suggest a potential compromise. The NPR has reported that the data that DOGE moved could have included sensitive information on unions, ongoing legal cases and corporate secrets. Democratic lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the matter.

ImgSrc: www.csoonline.c

References :

• ciso2ciso.com: Whistleblower alleges Russian IP address attempted access to US agency’s systems via DOGE-created accounts – Source: www.csoonline.com
• The Register - Security: Whistleblower describes DOGE IT dept rampage at America's labor watchdog
• www.csoonline.com: Whistleblower alleges Russian IP address attempted access to US agency’s systems via DOGE-created accounts.
• DataBreaches.Net: A whistleblower’s disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data
• aboutdfir.com: A whistleblower’s disclosure details details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data In the first days of March, a team of advisers from President Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency initiative arrived at the Southeast Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Labor Relations Board.
• Policy ? Ars Technica: Government IT whistleblower calls out DOGE, says he was threatened at home
• NPR Topics: Technology: Someone using a Russian IP address attempted to access the internal systems of the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) using legitimate accounts set up by staff from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a whistleblower inside the agency has alleged.

Classification:

• HashTags: #DataBreach #Cybersecurity #Espionage
• Company: Microsoft
• Target: US National Labor Relations Board
• Product: Windows
• Feature: Data Exfiltration
• Type: DataBreach
• Severity: Major