DOGE as a National Cyberattack

Why isn't it front-page news on HN rather than being flagged? Is it just because Musk's "DOGE" is in the title? I think it's pretty significant that a number of agencies have handed root access to people who shouldn't have it and have made changes that could have significant unintended consequences. This is could end up being a case study in why you don't allow unfettered access even when ordered by the incoming regime (be it POTUS or CEO) because there be dragons and the new people don't know where they are yet.

I would like to take this moment to point out that Obama created the framework that trump is using.

Here is a quote from NPR:

"The USDS launched in 2014 by the Obama administration in the aftermath of the botched rollout of HeathCare.gov as an office to boost the digital capabilities of the federal government. It has operated like a digital strike team of sorts, recruiting private sector experts in design and technology to work collaboratively with federal agencies on projects that make public-facing parts of the government more efficient, modern and user-friendly."

Link: https://www.npr.org/2025/01/29/nx-s1-5270893/doge-united-sta...

Even elected officials are not allowed to do stupid or insecure things! I seem to remember something about a quite famous incident involving a private email server.

Which boggles the mind when you compare it to what's going on right now.

> There is a difference between elected officials doing stupid or insecure things vs. unelected people being able to do this without any checks and balances.

Isn't the Treasury dept and most of the federal employees with access to this data unelected as well? They are appointed or hired as government officials and civil servants.

We need separation of corporation and state enshrined in the Constitution, if it's not too late.

Republicans are their own best argument against big government.

I wonder how that would work out. It's a bit of an inverse-Ouroboros where the people that are the government keep saying they are 'doing something about the government' without realising that that's them. Maybe they see themselves as something that is not the government, but the whole race they took part in was the race to get elected for government work.

At some point, enough destruction will have happened where the tools for useful government functionality no longer exist in usable capacity.

There's a reason Musk brought in younglings to do the illegal stuff. To ignorant to know that in a few years they will be in jail.

Trump's admin already said that they will defy court rulings.

Why would there be consequences? The majority of voting Americans wanted this to happen. Let's not pretend this wasn't the likely conclusion and voters were solely focused on the price of eggs.

By modifying core systems, the attackers have not only compromised current operations, but have also left behind vulnerabilities that could be exploited in future attacks—giving adversaries such as Russia and China an unprecedented opportunity. These countries have long targeted these systems. And they don’t just want to gather intelligence—they also want to understand how to disrupt these systems in a crisis.

It's really hard to imagine this whole coup isn't some type of Russian / Chinese attack on the western world at this stage. It's too unbelievably good for them to just be a coincidence.

I respect that you have been a HN member since 2016, making it unlikely that this is a troll account.

However, your views read like propaganda.

The "internal resistance" you refer to is simply people trying to follow the law, while being constantly whipsawed by changing political winds. We see similar stories here on HN about work in large corporations. What do you think it is like in an org with 2.2 MILLION employees, where their actions have the power of government behind them often including access to extremely sensitive information?

HN talked about leaking any Youtuber's contact information for 10K, with suggestions that Google should better protect people's data.

HN frequently talks about the dangers of non-accountability for police. Would you like that same non-accountabilty spread to all aspects of the Federal government? (if so, merry christmas because now you have it)

If you cannot find any steel-man arguments against DOGE, may I suggest that you read the remainder of this HN article?

"To save the village, we had to destroy it" comes to mind. Except the nuking irradiated the whole country, too.

> No agency would voluntarily modernize systems, which would inevitably reduce head count and put half of them out of jobs.

What facts are you basing this on? Have you worked at one of those agencies? Do you have reason the believe that the many agencies whose senior leadership have asked Congress to fund modernization programs were being disingenuous?

If not, consider that the people who told you this were not acting in good faith and had motives other than government efficiency.