In a shocking revelation that exposes potential vulnerabilities in federal cybersecurity, 19-year-old Edward “Big Balls” Coristine gained unprecedented access to sensitive government systems in early 2025. Working as part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Coristine and his colleague Donald Park rapidly acquired administrative permissions to critical federal databases, including the National Finance Center (NFC) that manages payroll for over 650,000 government employees.

The speed and ease with which these young operatives penetrated federal systems has alarmed cybersecurity experts and government oversight committees. Within just five hours of an initial request, Coristine and Park were granted access to the Small Business Administration’s core financial and loan systems, subsequently expanding their reach to payroll databases for agencies like the FBI, Department of Justice, and Department of Homeland Security.

Unique details emerged revealing the extraordinary nature of their system access. An anonymous source familiar with NFC operations suggested they were instructed to provide “unlimited access” - a highly unusual directive that bypassed standard vetting processes. The systems they accessed contained extraordinarily sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, banking details, addresses, and employment records.

Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan, expressed significant concern about the lack of standard security protocols. “As far as we know, these individuals did not undergo typical background checks,” Moynihan stated, highlighting the potential risks of such unrestricted system access.

The incident has prompted intense scrutiny from Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee. Representative Stephen Lynch emphasized the potential threat, stating that DOGE’s actions prioritize “the whims of the White House over the safety, security, and well-being of the American people”.

While the exact intentions behind these system infiltrations remain unclear, previous reporting suggests DOGE might have been collecting data to support specific administrative agendas, particularly around immigration enforcement.

This unprecedented breach underscores growing concerns about technological disruption in government systems and the potential risks posed by unconventional actors gaining high-level access to sensitive federal databases.