"A whistleblower has claimed that a former software engineer from DOGE said he possessed two databases from the SSA, "Numident" and the "Master Death File." The person reportedly asked for help transferring the databases from a thumb drive "to his personal computer so that he could 'sanitize' the data before using it at [the company]," an unnamed government contractor where he is currently employed. Those databases include personal information about more than 500 million living and deceased Americans."
"Charles Borges, former chief data officer at the agency, claimed that a SSA database was stored in an unsecured cloud environment. "This is absolutely the worst-case scenario," Borges told The Post of the latest claims. "There could be one or a million copies of it, and we will never know now.""
The Social Security Administration's inspector general is investigating allegations that a former software engineer connected to the Department of Government Efficiency operation led by Elon Musk obtained two sensitive SSA databases: Numident and the Master Death File. The whistleblower claims the individual possessed these databases on a thumb drive and sought assistance transferring them to a personal computer to sanitize the data before using it at an unnamed government contractor. These databases contain personal information on more than 500 million living and deceased Americans. The complaint was filed in January, and while both the SSA and the contractor initially reported finding no evidence to confirm the allegations, the inspector general's office has now launched an investigation and notified Congress and the Government Accountability Office.
#data-breach #government-security #social-security-administration #whistleblower-investigation #personal-data-protection
Read at Engadget
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