White House security staff warned Musk's Starlink is a security risk [View all]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/06/07/starlink-white-house-security-doge-musk/

White House security staff warned Musk’s Starlink is a security risk
Starlink satellite connections in the White House bypass controls meant to stop leaks and hacking.
June 7, 2025 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
By Joseph Menn

Elon Musk’s team at the U.S. DOGE Service and allies in the Trump administration ignored White House communications experts worried about potential security breaches when DOGE personnel installed Musk’s Starlink internet service in the complex this year, three people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, said those who were managing White House communications systems were not informed in advance when DOGE representatives went to the roof of the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building in February to install a terminal connecting users in the complex to Starlink satellites, which are owned by Musk’s private SpaceX rocket company.

The people said those managing the systems weren’t able to monitor such connections to stop sensitive information from leaving the complex or hackers from breaking in.

It could not be verified whether the rooftop terminal remains installed or if anything would change now that Musk has receded from the government. A “Starlink Guest” WiFi network appeared on White House phones in February, prompting users only for a password, not a username or a second form of authentication, according to the people. That WiFi network was still appearing on White House visitors’ phones this week.

Traditionally at the White House, personal phones on guest WiFi networks need names and passwords that are tracked and expire after a week, the people said. Work computers are locked down with security programs and staffers’ interactions with the outside world are “very thoroughly tracked,” with the device identifiers and times of all transmissions recorded, said one of the people, who left the government after the Starlink installation.

“Starlink doesn’t require anything. It allows you to transmit data without any kind of record or tracking,” this person told The Post. “White House IT systems had very strong controls on network access. You had to be on a full-tunnel VPN at all times. If you are not on the VPN, White House-issued devices can’t connect to the outside.”

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