Young engineer at Elon Musk’s DOGE gains access to secret US payment system – The Times

A 25-year-old engineer employed at Elon Musk’s DOGE has access to a “top-secret” federal payment system within the Treasury Department, reports Wired citing sources.
According to sources, the engineer, Marko Elez, can modify the code that manages most US government payments to citizens, encompassing Social Security, tax returns and additional disbursements.
WIRED’s sources identified Elez as the seventh youthful DOGE staff member exposed on Musk’s team, causing disruption in Washington as the billionaire endeavours to fulfil his pledge of reducing federal expenditure by billions.
The young professional has reportedly received authorisation “not just to read but to write code” within the US Payment Automation Manager and Secure Payment System at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, as per WIRED’s findings.
These systems reportedly operate on a “top-secret mainframe” containing government payment information representing over 20% of the US economy, including grants and disbursements to government contractors, potentially encompassing Musk’s corporate rivals.
The planet’s wealthiest individual initially contested reports identifying his young staff members and minimised their influence over sensitive data, stating his team maintains “read-only access” to the systems they have accessed.
However, WIRED’s investigation indicates Elez possesses capabilities beyond “read only” status, enabling him to “navigate the entire file system, change user permissions, and delete or modify critical files.” Nevertheless, no evidence suggests any misuse of this access by Elez.
This situation has triggered concerns within federal government circles. Talking Points Memo reported apprehensions about Elez potentially “going haywire” and causing significant disruption.
“A week ago, I would have dismissed such possibilities entirely,” a federal IT worker explained to WIRED. “Now, the situation seems utterly unpredictable.”
Following his identification on Sunday, Elez has removed most of his digital footprint, including his LinkedIn profile, similar to other DOGE members. His X profile remains bare, with no posts or profile picture, displaying only a SpaceX rocket and American flag as cover image. The account maintains connections with 14 individuals, including Musk, DOGE’s official account, and Luke Farritor, the 23-year-old DOGE engineer who has since made his account private.

This article was originally published by a timesofindia.indiatimes.com . Read the Original article here. .