Here's a concerning revelation amidst the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump:
Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, installed a Starlink Wi-Fi terminal at the White House in March – despite warnings from security officials that doing so could open the administration to potential data leak and espionage risks.
Starlink is the satellite internet service provided by Elon Musk's space exploration company SpaceX. The Starlink terminal installed at the White House was originally reported by the New York Times earlier this year. As they reported in March, a DOGE official who also worked for Musk's companies originally tripped a security alarm when going up onto the roof of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex in order to survey the installation site. At the time, the White House said that Starlink was being installed to "to improve Wi-Fi connectivity on the complex."
Although the Trump administration approved the installation, a new report from the Washington Post has revealed that they provided that approval against the wishes of White House communications experts and security officials.
According to the report, White House communication system administrators were not even informed of the Starlink installation in advance of DOGE officials ascending to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building rooftop to install the terminal. Because these officials were unable to monitor the Starlink installation, there is concern among these White House communication experts that there are potentially security issues that could lead to intrusion from hackers or sensitive information leaking out of the complex.
Further concerning officials about the potential for espionage was the lack of security protocol involved with Starlink's services. According to one official, White House Wi-Fi networks typically require a guest to sign in so that their device and any transmissions could be tracked and monitored. However, after the Starlink installation, those identifiers were no longer a requirement and data transmission was no longer being tracked.
Starlink, according to this official, could allow anyone to bypass security measures that are designed to curb unauthorized data transmissions.
According to whistleblowers who spoke to The Washington Post, Starlink has reportedly been installed at other government agencies as well such as the National Labor Relations Board and the General Services Administration.
In a statement provided to the paper, the Secret Service said that it was "aware of DOGE’s intentions to improve internet access on the campus" through the Starlink installation and that the Secret Service "did not consider this matter a security incident or security breach."
Although Musk and Trump's feud could change the government's ongoing relationships with Musk's companies and services in the future, including Starlink, White House visitors have reported that the Startlink Wi-Fi network was still accessible as of this week.
