By Tami Luhby, CNN
(CNN) — Department of Government Efficiency employees at the Social Security Administration put the records of more than 300 million Americans at risk by creating a copy of the data in a vulnerable cloud computing server, the agency’s chief data officer said in a whistleblower complaint filed Tuesday.
The copy of the agency’s database – which contains people’s names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, citizenship status, parents’ names and other personal information – “apparently lacks any security oversight from SSA or tracking to determine who is accessing or has accessed the copy of this data,” according to Charles Borges, whose whistleblower disclosure was submitted by the Government Accountability Project to the Office of Special Counsel and congressional committees.
“Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital healthcare and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for re-issuing every American a new Social Security Number at great cost,” according to the complaint, which was first reported by the New York Times.
Borges reported his concerns – “a disturbing pattern of questionable and risky security access and administrative misconduct” – to the office of the agency’s chief information officer but is not aware of any remedial action being taken, the complaint said. He has served as Social Security’s chief data officer since January...
On October 1, the federal government shut down after Republican majorities in the House and the Senate failed to negotiate a funding extension with Democrats, who are looking to prevent millions o...