Treasury agrees to block additional DOGE staff from accessing sensitive payment systems The Record from Recorded Future News

pppLeadershipppCybercrimeppNationstateppElectionsppTechnologyppCyber DailyppClick Here Podcastpp Free Newsletterpp The Treasury Department has agreed to temporarily block all but two members of the Trump administrations Department of Government Efficiency DOGE team from accessing sensitive payment records and to limit their access to readonly according to a Thursday court filing pp The DOGE workers allowed to continue accessing Treasurys payment systems are Tom Krause and his employee Marko Elez the court filing says The order is the latest development in a lawsuit union groups filed against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday pp The agreement comes amid an uproar over how DOGE which is run by billionaire Elon Musk has penetrated federal agencies and reportedly accessed or sought access to systems at the Departments of Labor and Education the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the US Agency for International Development among other agencies pp The federal judges order formalizing the agreement will remain in place until she rules on a preliminary injunction motion filed by the plaintiffs The injunction asks the court to require Treasury leadership to block DOGE access to the payment systems and protect the data it has already obtained pp Krause who the lawsuit says is the CEO of a company which owns Citrix and other technology firms is supervising Elez Some news outlets have reported that DOGE has full access to the Treasury payment systems and has the ability to write code controlling most payments made by the federal government pp The Treasury Department has denied those claims asserting in an unattributed letter directed to Congress and posted on the agencys website that Elez and Krause have readonly privileges The letter also establishes that Krause is now a Treasury employee and not merely a DOGE worker pp The letter dated Tuesday does not address whether nonTreasury employees working for DOGE have access to the systems It also adds a caveat to its assertion that access is readonly by saying such access is currently in place and that DOGE workers will not have administrative privileges pp Currently Treasury staff members working with Tom Krause a Treasury employee will have readonly access to the coded data of the Fiscal Services payment systems in order to continue this operational efficiency assessment the letter says   pp This is similar to the kind of access that Treasury provides to individuals reviewing Treasury systems such as auditors and that follows practices associated with protecting the integrity of the systems and business processes pp Krause is working with longtime career Treasury employees and all operational processes continue to be conducted only by career Treasury staff in accordance with all standard security safety and privacy standards the letter states  pp Bessent the Treasury secretary has been supportive of DOGE efforts The agencys former highestranking career official David A Lebryk who had overseen the payment systems reportedly retired under pressure after refusing to allow DOGE access to the payment systems pp Bessent interviewed Krause in December and discussed Krauses plans to access Treasury systems on behalf of DOGE during that interview Bloomberg reported Thursday pp Elez is a 25yearold engineer who has been employed at two Musk companies Wired reported Tuesday pp Meanwhile another DOGE team member with access to government systems 19yearold Edward Coristine worked in 2022 for a network monitoring company which has hired former black hat hackers Wired reported Thursday Coristine is reportedly known online as Big Balls pp Coristine is also tied to a Telegram account which solicited a cyberattackforhire service also in 2022 Wired reported pp A former military intelligence officer and another expert who is a former FBI agent told Wired that it is doubtful Coristine could have obtained a security clearance with his background pp Clarification The court filing containing details about the Treasury Departments plans was finalized on Thursday ppSuzanne Smalleyppis a reporter covering privacy disinformation and cybersecurity policy for The Record She was previously a cybersecurity reporter at CyberScoop and Reuters Earlier in her career Suzanne covered the Boston Police Department for the Boston Globe and two presidential campaign cycles for Newsweek She lives in Washington with her husband and three childrenppPrivacyppAboutppContact Uspp Copyright 2024 The Record from Recorded Future Newsp