Summary

Elon Musk allegedly installed an unauthorized server at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), gaining access to sensitive federal employee data, including Social Security numbers, home addresses, and medical histories.

Young, inexperienced staffers are reportedly using this access to target positions for removal, particularly DEI offices.

Security concerns have been raised, with fears of hacking and HIPAA violations.

Senior officials have been locked out of key systems, limiting oversight of DOGE’s actions, which could significantly impact the federal workforce.

  • samus12345@lemm.ee
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    20 days ago

    There really was no plan at all about preventing fascists from just marching in and doing whatever they want, huh? We were just supposed to count on people to do the right thing? Surprised this didn’t happen sooner, honestly.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      19 days ago

      All the laws that were put in place after Nixon didn’t really lay out a punishment. They assumed impeachment would still be the remedy used. Not sure what changed between the 70s and now that made senators afraid to challenge their president.

    • thewebguy@lemmy.ml
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      19 days ago

      Kind of scary, really. This whole time all our adversaries had to do was social engineer their way in through the front door with a handwritten note from dear leader.

    • jaybone@lemmy.world
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      19 days ago

      Do you have to be a citizen to commit treason? Did he actually obtain citizenship after committing his visa fraud? I’d like to see the long form certificate of his citizenship. Last time they complained someone was born in Africa it was a big deal…

      • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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        19 days ago

        He is a US citizen. He can be charged, convicted, and hanged for treason. And there isn’t even any case law about whether a non-citizen can be charged with treason.

      • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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        19 days ago

        This is one of those things were pardons and laws don’t really matter. The way this thing is going, most of the citizens of DC will literally want to see Trump, Musk, and Vance’s heads on pikes. If things get bad enough, the military and those guarding the president may simply look the other way and let the mob storm the gates. Most of the instances you see of revolutionary crowds storming a dictator’s palace only occur because the military abandons them.

        Trump and Musk are at a very real risk of ending up like Mussolini, hanging from a lamppost. That’s how Fascist leaders like him often end up.

  • Valorie12@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    After this, is there any question that he didn’t do something to hack vote counting machines? I’m feeling like this election wasn’t legitimate.

      • StopTouchingYourPhone@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        Fantastic long read. ty.

        But if you’re expecting a sexy story about Elon Musk messing with vote-counting software from outer space, sorry, you won’t get that here.

        As in Bush v. Gore in 2000, and in too many other miscarriages of Democracy, this election was determined by good old “vote suppression,” the polite term we use for shafting people of color out of their ballot. We used to call it Jim Crow.

    • chuckleslord@lemmy.world
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      19 days ago

      Yes, he didn’t. They want to make everyone question the legitimacy of the elections, so they’re pretending that they orchestrated something. In reality, there was nothing suspicious about the election. The only ratfucking was the normal, Gerrymandering kind. And a metric fuck ton of misinformation.

    • BmeBenji@lemm.ee
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      19 days ago

      In a two party, first past the post voting country no election is legitimate

    • geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml
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      19 days ago

      Hillary had the decency to destroy Libya. Did Elon not get the memo that America is the holy country of the chosen people?

      • chaogomu@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        Gaddafi was a fucking monster. No one misses him or his corpse freezer. So when the people started rising up, the UN said, sure, we can help out a bit. And so flew a handful of missiles. And zero troops.

        No, the problem is that after giving minimal help to oust Gaddafi, no one stepped in to restore order. So the civil war continued.

        As a note, the Arab Spring is part of why the Saudis helped Leon buy Twitter. To make sure it couldn’t be used for that sort of uprising again.

        • geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml
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          18 days ago

          Thanks for bringing back the slave market to Libya!

          You might want to recheck all the propaganda you consumed. Most of it has already been declassified as lies.

    • Pennomi@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      To be fair, data brokers already know that stuff. The difference is now Tesla doesn’t have to buy the data.

      • thisorthatorwhatever@lemmy.world
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        20 days ago

        In a few years we’re probably going to find out that Musk uses the cameras on Teslas to 1)creep on women he likes 2) spy on politicians for compromising material Between Teslas and Starlink he literally knows where people are.

  • Hadriscus@lemm.ee
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    19 days ago

    Ok so this is really a hostile takeover right out of a black mirror episode. It’s starting to dawn on me

    • samus12345@lemm.ee
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      19 days ago

      Like [insert dystopian story here], but stupider. That seems to be the theme.

    • Soulg@sh.itjust.works
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      19 days ago

      Don’t worry, musk is aligned with Trump, so the anti tyranny gun people are too busy bending over to give a fuck

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      It’s starting to dawn on me

      I mean, yes, it really is. We’re watching what may be the end of democracy. We’re only a month in and we have unelected oligarchs making policy decisions and budget measures without voting or congressional oversight or even representation.

      This is the definition of a coup, it’s just that there’s no tanks rolling down the street. Yet.

      Our best-case scenario is that they just want to steal our money, and once they fill their bellies with your private data and identity data and of course, money, they will return to their dens to digest the feast. Our worst-case scenario is that the 2024 election will be remembered as America’s last attempt at democracy.

      • Donjamos@lemmy.world
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        17 days ago

        Tanks rolling down the street is a good keyword. What’s your militarys take on all this? Are they more likely to defend democracy or are they already mostly lead by magas? How likely is them kicking out the government and taking over?

        • ameancow@lemmy.world
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          17 days ago

          While the US military is sworn to uphold the Constitution, the President is still technically their commander and boss and they are obligated to follow his orders unless it’s some egregious offense against the constitution, but like with everything happening right now, we’ve never had this system tested, we’ve never faced a military having to make this choice on a large-scale level.

          We also have a constitution that was written centuries ago and hasn’t been updated or amended in a very long time, and this archaic abstractness is what has let so many people and courts stretch the interpretations or ignore it entirely. At this point I don’t think the military will defy the administration for nearly any reason because nobody actually knows what they’re doing or supposed to do. The rug has been yoinked out from under US government but it’s been a slow, slow tug and we didn’t realize we didn’t have a rug under us until the system wasn’t there to protect anyone anymore. Add to that, there are enough far-right generals and defense department officials who are completely on-board with this administration’s warmongering and hate that I don’t think any kind of “constitutional crisis” would last long in the ranks of the military. The fascist marinade has seeped into every nook and cranny here.

          The whole world should be very, very worried.

    • marine_mustang@sh.itjust.works
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      20 days ago

      Remember the OPM data breach in 2015? This is that, but for all OPM data, instead of some of it or most of it. For those unfamiliar with an SF86 (or eQIP); it’s your entire employment, educational, and residential history. All foreign nationals you maintain contact with, family history, financial history, travel history, anything that may be relevant in granting a security clearance.

      • Thassodar@lemm.ee
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        19 days ago

        I had to fill one out over a decade ago for a government job, and they even sent letters to the people I put as references to ask if there was any reason I shouldn’t work for the government. Once I got the job that place was super locked down; if you try to (or accidentally) use your badge on a door you’re not cleared for, expect a talking to.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      They literally rolled a server in and plugged it in to send emails…

      I have no idea why what you said is relevant

    • Allonzee@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      I voted for her out of attempted harm reduction, and I agree, she probably is.

      Wealthy neoliberals care as much about their fellow citizens as wealthy fascists, as they both have the same God they worship 💰

      One appeals to pretending to care about people’s well-being while taking bribes to hurt them, the other appeals to pretending to care about idiot bigot’s blood lust while taking bribes to hurt them.

      • lennybird@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        Yeah you’re probably not far off. Similarly, I held my nose and voted for her as well. She was obviously the better choice, if only because her legacy was tied to a platform that at least on paper was significantly better than the alternative (e.g., climate change).

        Alas I raise Hillary because of the double-standards of her buttery males versus this which is infinitely worse — yet, naturally, not a peep from conservative circles.

        Because we know they’re hypocrites and ends justify means to them.

        • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          Oh, they never cared at all about the emails. That was just to gin up outrage among stupid people. Otherwise, they would have gone after Republicans that did it first.

        • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          Perhaps if we had a candidate we didn’t have to hold our nose over, this all could have been avoided.

          • lennybird@lemmy.world
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            18 days ago

            Honestly, right-wing media domination is so strong that we could resurrect George Washington, merge his DNA with Reagan’s corpse, then conjoin that with Trump’s head and call him GigaTrump and Republicans wouldn’t vote for him because of the (D).

            • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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              18 days ago

              It’s not really republicans that we need to attract. It’s all the people the DNC abandoned in pursuit of the corporate dollar.

              • DiagnosedADHD@lemmy.world
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                18 days ago

                Yup and let’s see what they’re up to, oh they’re trying to strengthen anti-piracy laws I’m sure that’ll help Americans

      • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        Not anymore! With constitution 2.0 only bad moms who forget to pick up their kids from the baseball game on time will ever be prosecuted for capital offences and sentenced to capital punishment… Not rich guys!

    • comfy@lemmy.ml
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      18 days ago

      Yes. So what?

      Law doesn’t matter. Breaking the law is common. And if anything, Trump’s first term is all the proof we didn’t even need that laws won’t stop this.

    • MisterFrog@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      This is why I think it’s heinous presidential pardons were ever allowed to be on the books. Must have reminded the founders of the kingly powers they sought to replace?

      How did no one ever consider that you can do as many crimes as you want, so long as the president will pardon you?

      Like???

      Really dumb, if you ask me.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        I started on the Internet in the 90s. Once you get past Goatse, Tubgirl and 2 Girls, 1 Cup, your imagination for horrific things people say on the internet gets severely muted.

  • Laser@lemmy.ca
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    18 days ago

    Where are all the 2A folks? I thought this is what they were alive for? To take down a tyrannical government

    • pyre@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      they just say that because it sounds better than “I hope one day a black guy tries to break into my house so I can kill one”

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      They’re all too busy making sure Hillary Clinton isn’t using a private server for her email.

    • Red_October@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      Turns out they were mostly hoping to shoot liberals that were trying to kick down their doors to take guns and force them into a gay marriage.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      They’re deeply unserious about everything they scream about. They have no respect or serious connection with the US constitution. They only cling to the talking points like “the second amendment” because they know it gives them the right to be violent, and to the people who installed this man as shadow-president, they only care about having the right to hurt people they hate, and they hate a LOT of people.

      Mark my words, if there’s an executive leader that gives them the right to carry guns and hurt people, but discards the constitution, they will be first to piss on that document.

  • meowmeowbeanz@sh.itjust.works
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    19 days ago

    Musk’s crew at DOGE—Trump’s weird fake agency—built a secret server to swipe every federal worker’s private deets. Skipped the law? Obviously. No privacy checks, no rules—just a free pass to dig through Social Security numbers, health records, and your cousin’s lame USAJOBS résumé.

    The “talent” running this circus? Some college kid and a teen who probably still texts “XD” unironically. Peak competence. They’re blasting spam emails like it’s 2003, while China’s hackers lick their chops.

    Congress is suddenly shocked? Please. They let this dumpster fire burn until the lawsuits rolled in. Musk calls it “streamlining.” I call it digital kleptocracy with a side of Space Karen vibes.

    If this is “innovation,” humanity’s screwed. Imagine a Bond villain—but instead of lasers, he’s got Excel sheets and your mom’s dental records.

    Stay frosty. The future’s here, and it’s run by rich twits playing Sims: Government Edition.

  • Gerudo@lemm.ee
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    19 days ago

    This is starting to exceed even my pessimistic doomsday expectations. And we aren’t even a month in yet.

    • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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      18 days ago

      If the server isn’t legal, smashing it with hammer isn’t illegal. Also, it’s perfectly legal for guards to shoot intruders in federal buildings.