1125 points by mahkeiro 379 days ago | 1123 comments on HN
| Moderate positive Editorial · v3.7· 2026-02-28 08:20:01
Summary Government Accountability & Digital Security Advocates
This investigative article documents a critical security vulnerability in DOGE.gov where unauthorized parties can modify government databases. The reporting advocates for government transparency, accountability, and digital security (Articles 19, 21) while documenting failures in system security and privacy protection (Articles 3, 12). The piece demonstrates free expression and investigative journalism holding government responsible for transparency commitments.
Every other intelligence agency on the planet is about to scoop a ton of American data via cyber and basic HUMINT. It's free for all out there, I guess.
Does anyone want to talk about the hack itself? Can anyone give more details than "left their database open"? I came to this site hoping for a real discussion about that and didn't see it here yet...
Worth noting that the U.S. Digital Service (USDS, i.e the org that DOGE has now subsumed) has for a long while been experts at building and deploying static websites for the federal government. And doing it completely in the open. Within minutes you can literally clone and re-deploy all of httsp://usds.gov — 150MB of 2,700 assets and documents, built on Jekyll — locally or on S3. They've even written out the complete deployment instructions:
Trump/Elon fascism/heroism (depending on your point of view) aside, one thing that concerns me is how quickly is it possible to decide that 1000 employees at a place like the Department of Energy, including 300 at the National Nuclear Security Administration, can be dismissed without any impact on the effectiveness of these agencies.
Even if you do believe that these agencies are bloated with workers who are doing "unnecessary" work, which is possible, it seems very unprudent to make cuts so quickly. And who is qualified to make these decisions? Elon? Some Tesla or SpaceX engineer who wrote some code and put up a website? Come on. WTF do they know about how all these agencies operate and the downstream effects? You think they're taking the time to really think it through?
Now it's possible that prior to taking office, Trump had people with deep understanding of government operations go through everything, and really think things through, and prepare a list of jobs that could be cut without any impact, but if that is the case, it's never been said. Given who Trump has around him to lead these agencies (McMahon for Dept of Ed? An Oil and Gas Lobbyist for BLM? Really?) that doesn't seem likely.
Move fast and break things works fine for a start-up, and might even be fine for more cultural type stuff ("DEI"), but Dept of Energy?
It's like firing two-thirds of your sysadmins because "well, we haven't had any issues with our servers lately, and no breaches, so those people must not be needed".
I am wondering if it would have been more of an effect to
instead of this add some DEI trolling ... April 1st level of foolery so people think it is real and then get Twitter riled up on it.
Does anyone else see what’s really going on here? Naming a “government agency” after a meme coin? Wearing a hat in the Oval Office while talking over the (literally) sitting president? Elon is attempting to telegraph that he has no respect for the institutions of our country. Why do you think Trump did something as petty as renaming the Gulf of Mexico? It’s a litmus test to see who will follow his most inane power plays. Today, it was put into action when they banned the AP from the Oval Office and AF1 for not bending the knee on this issue. This is far darker than Elon just running amok.
Its not just this website. Since DOGE, China probably canceled all vacation days for their hackers, as its a free for all. Firing of most so many people including security departments and most likely the (good) femboy furry hackers.
Is the newly created user with name "bigballs" who downloads whole government databases a foreign TA or just DOGE? Who knows. Who cares, certainly not the Government.
The data and access gained currently by China, Russia, NK and SA will continue to be useful until and way after the next war.
> Maybe they should fire these kids and replace them with REAL engineers.
Nah, they'll want reasonable pay, reasonable hours, and won't confuse their boss for a living god. They may even have some self-confidence and morals, which would be a total deal breaker.
I mean the article is paywalled but it sounds like this is isolated to their site-displayed twitter feed; basically the site was hosted by cloudflare and you could insert your own fake tweets into what was recorded on the site (but not on the actual DOGE twitter feed). I don't think any data was actually compromised
They are doing tremendous damage for something that is supposed to be a stage show. Among everything they've done over the past three weeks, HUD is being gutted as we speak and the company a friend works at lost $100 million in contracts practically overnight.
DOGE is a complete farce, but I think there's an important to not just write this off as a stage show and the people buying into it as idiots. There are a lot of people who feel that government isn't working for them and so when they see things like "8 million dollars spent on condoms for Palestinians" they're already primed to get angry about it. Musk/DOGE's actions may all be for spectacle, but he's tapping into some very real emotions that he wouldn't be able to tap into if people felt the government was working for them. DOGE is a symptom of a larger problem. Even if Musk and DOGE are completely discredited, if we don't figure out a way to make it so the average citizen feels like they're getting their money's worth from the government, it's just a matter of time until someone else steps in to exploit that feeling for their own gain.
The numbers they claim to save are like trying to turn your household budget around by cutting out a weekly latte.
If you really want to make big financial changes, you need a lot more income, or cut serious costs - like a car payment or downsize your house. In the case of DOGE, I haven't seen them touch DoD or any of the massive medical programs, etc.
Core expression of investigative journalism and free speech; advocates for public's right to know about government systems and accountability
FW Ratio: 60%
Observable Facts
404 Media published an investigative report exposing a government website's security vulnerability
The article attributes findings to anonymous sources who discovered the vulnerability independently
The investigation documents government claims of transparency in contrast to documented security failures
Inferences
The publication constitutes an exercise of free expression exposing government accountability failures
The investigative journalism supports the public's right to know about government systems and practices
+0.50
Article 12Privacy
Medium Advocacy Framing
Editorial
+0.50
SETL
0.00
Strongly advocates for privacy protection and data security by exposing critical vulnerability in government database
FW Ratio: 67%
Observable Facts
The article reports that doge.gov pulls from an unsecured database accessible to third parties
Multiple unauthorized entries were added to and displayed on the live government website
Inferences
The privacy and data integrity vulnerability indicates a failure to protect government information systems from unauthorized modification
+0.40
Article 21Political Participation
Medium Advocacy Framing
Editorial
+0.40
SETL
0.00
Advocates for government accountability and transparency as foundational to democratic participation
FW Ratio: 67%
Observable Facts
The article documents a government website created to demonstrate transparency contains serious security flaws
The investigation reveals a significant gap between government's stated transparency commitments and actual security practices
Inferences
The documented failures support informed democratic participation by exposing government accountability gaps
+0.30
PreamblePreamble
Medium Advocacy Framing
Editorial
+0.30
SETL
0.00
The article documents a government website designed to demonstrate transparency but found to be insecure, emphasizing the importance of government accountability in protecting systems and rights
FW Ratio: 67%
Observable Facts
The article discusses a government website created to track government actions and demonstrate transparency
The report identifies failures in government system administration and security
Inferences
The documentation of government accountability failures highlights the importance of proper administration for protecting rights
+0.20
Article 28Social & International Order
Medium Framing
Editorial
+0.20
SETL
+0.14
Documents failure of proper government administration and security infrastructure
FW Ratio: 67%
Observable Facts
The article documents that a government website was rapidly deployed without adequate security measures
The website's vulnerabilities allow unauthorized modification of government data visible to the public
Inferences
The documented failures represent inadequate government administration and security infrastructure
-0.20
Article 3Life, Liberty, Security
Medium Framing Coverage
Editorial
-0.20
SETL
-0.28
Documents failure of government to maintain security of critical systems and protect citizens' safety
FW Ratio: 67%
Observable Facts
The article documents that doge.gov's database can be edited by anyone via the internet
Anonymous sources confirmed that third-party modifications appeared on the live government website
Inferences
The vulnerability represents a fundamental failure to maintain security of systems affecting government and citizens
ND
Article 1Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood
Not addressed
ND
Article 2Non-Discrimination
Not addressed
ND
Article 4No Slavery
Not addressed
ND
Article 5No Torture
Not addressed
ND
Article 6Legal Personhood
Not addressed
ND
Article 7Equality Before Law
Not addressed
ND
Article 8Right to Remedy
Not addressed
ND
Article 9No Arbitrary Detention
Not addressed
ND
Article 10Fair Hearing
Not addressed
ND
Article 11Presumption of Innocence
Not addressed
ND
Article 13Freedom of Movement
Not addressed
ND
Article 14Asylum
Not addressed
ND
Article 15Nationality
Not addressed
ND
Article 16Marriage & Family
Not addressed
ND
Article 17Property
Not addressed
ND
Article 18Freedom of Thought
Not addressed
ND
Article 20Assembly & Association
Not addressed
ND
Article 22Social Security
Not addressed
ND
Article 23Work & Equal Pay
Not addressed
ND
Article 24Rest & Leisure
Not addressed
ND
Article 25Standard of Living
Not addressed
ND
Article 26Education
Not addressed
ND
Article 27Cultural Participation
Not addressed
ND
Article 29Duties to Community
Not addressed
ND
Article 30No Destruction of Rights
Not addressed
Structural Channel
What the site does
+0.60
Article 19Freedom of Expression
High Advocacy Framing Coverage
Structural
+0.60
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
+0.26
404 Media operates as independent platform exercising free expression and enabling government transparency
+0.50
Article 12Privacy
Medium Advocacy Framing
Structural
+0.50
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
0.00
404 Media demonstrates commitment to privacy and responsible investigation of system vulnerabilities
+0.40
Article 21Political Participation
Medium Advocacy Framing
Structural
+0.40
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
0.00
404 Media supports democratic participation through transparent investigative reporting
+0.30
PreamblePreamble
Medium Advocacy Framing
Structural
+0.30
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
0.00
404 Media operates as an independent journalism platform dedicated to government accountability and transparency
+0.20
Article 3Life, Liberty, Security
Medium Framing Coverage
Structural
+0.20
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
-0.28
404 Media reports security vulnerabilities responsibly and independently
+0.10
Article 28Social & International Order
Medium Framing
Structural
+0.10
Context Modifier
ND
SETL
+0.14
404 Media reports on government system administration failures
ND
Article 1Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood
Not addressed
ND
Article 2Non-Discrimination
Not addressed
ND
Article 4No Slavery
Not addressed
ND
Article 5No Torture
Not addressed
ND
Article 6Legal Personhood
Not addressed
ND
Article 7Equality Before Law
Not addressed
ND
Article 8Right to Remedy
Not addressed
ND
Article 9No Arbitrary Detention
Not addressed
ND
Article 10Fair Hearing
Not addressed
ND
Article 11Presumption of Innocence
Not addressed
ND
Article 13Freedom of Movement
Not addressed
ND
Article 14Asylum
Not addressed
ND
Article 15Nationality
Not addressed
ND
Article 16Marriage & Family
Not addressed
ND
Article 17Property
Not addressed
ND
Article 18Freedom of Thought
Not addressed
ND
Article 20Assembly & Association
Not addressed
ND
Article 22Social Security
Not addressed
ND
Article 23Work & Equal Pay
Not addressed
ND
Article 24Rest & Leisure
Not addressed
ND
Article 25Standard of Living
Not addressed
ND
Article 26Education
Not addressed
ND
Article 27Cultural Participation
Not addressed
ND
Article 29Duties to Community
Not addressed
ND
Article 30No Destruction of Rights
Not addressed
Supplementary Signals
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build 73de264+3rh4 · deployed 2026-02-28 13:33 UTC · evaluated 2026-02-28 13:37:02 UTC
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