Assessing DOGE's Impact on Federal Cybersecurity and Data

Dr. Richard Forno

Assistant Director, UMBC Cybersecurity Institute

12–1pm EDT Friday, March 14, 2025 online

In just its first month of operation, that has disrupted large portions of the federal government, the activities of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have worried cybersecurity, national security, and information technology experts both inside and outside the federal government. Armed with root-level access and presidential authorization---yet often lacking relevant operational expertise or any meaningful oversight---DOGE’s staff, activities, and the security culture of the current administration in which they operate often seem to violate many time-tested best practices and principles for effective cybersecurity and technology management. They may also violate longstanding federal guidelines and regulations. As such, it is likely that DOGE is creating conditions that can cause operational, cybersecurity, or privacy incidents across the federal IT landscape and subsequently placing government information systems and sensitive citizen data at risk. On the CIA (confidentiality-integrity-availability) triad, this talk will examine DOGE's activities in the context of cybersecurity and technology best practices. Is DOGE truly an “insider threat” to the federal government as some claim? And if so, what countermeasures, if any, are available to address the threat?

Dr. Richard Forno is a teaching professor in the UMBC Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, where he directs the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program, serves as the Assistant Director of UMBC's Cybersecurity Institute, and is an Affiliate Scholar at the Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society (CIS). Prior to academia, his twenty-year career includes helping build a formal cybersecurity program for the US House of Representatives, serving as the first Chief Security Officer for Network Solutions (then, the global center of Internet DNS), and other assorted roles with the government, military/defense entities, and private sector. In 2023, he was named a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico. Along with regular public analysis and commentary, his most recent book is Cybersecurity for Local Governments (Wiley, 2022), coauthored with UMBC Public Policy colleagues Professor Emeritus Don Norris and Ph.D. candidate Laura Mateczun.

Assessing DOGE's Impact on Federal Cybersecurity and Data

Dr. Richard Forno

Assistant Director, UMBC Cybersecurity Institute

12–1pm Friday, March 14, 2025, online

In just its first month of operation, that has disrupted large portions of the federal government, the activities of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have worried cybersecurity, national security, and information technology experts both inside and outside the federal government. Armed with root-level access and presidential authorization---yet often lacking relevant operational expertise or any meaningful oversight---DOGE’s staff, activities, and the security culture of the current administration in which they operate often seem to violate many time-tested best practices and principles for effective cybersecurity and technology management. They may also violate longstanding federal guidelines and regulations. As such, it is likely that DOGE is creating conditions that can cause operational, cybersecurity, or privacy incidents across the federal IT landscape and subsequently placing government information systems and sensitive citizen data at risk. On the CIA (confidentiality-integrity-availability) triad, this talk will examine DOGE's activities in the context of cybersecurity and technology best practices. Is DOGE truly an “insider threat” to the federal government as some claim? And if so, what countermeasures, if any, are available to address the threat?

Dr. Richard Forno is a teaching professor in the UMBC Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, where he directs the UMBC Graduate Cybersecurity Program, serves as the Assistant Director of UMBC's Cybersecurity Institute, and is an Affiliate Scholar at the Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society (CIS). Prior to academia, his twenty-year career includes helping build a formal cybersecurity program for the US House of Representatives, serving as the first Chief Security Officer for Network Solutions (then, the global center of Internet DNS), and other assorted roles with the government, military/defense entities, and private sector. In 2023, he was named a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico. Along with regular public analysis and commentary, his most recent book is Cybersecurity for Local Governments (Wiley, 2022), coauthored with UMBC Public Policy colleagues Professor Emeritus Don Norris and Ph.D. candidate Laura Mateczun.

Mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Md Badrul Hasan received the 2025 Professor Kirti “Karman” Ghia Memorial Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for his research modeling the fluid flow inside hurricanes with physics-informed machine learning. 

The award recognizes an international graduate student in the U.S. who has developed an innovative approach to computational fluid dynamics, in which computers are used to analyze and predict how fluids flow, with applications in aerospace engineering, weather forecasting, and more. 

Hasan and his UMBC mentors—Meilin Yu, mechanical engineering, and Tim Oates, computer science and electrical engineering—looked at the layer of atmosphere in a hurricane that is directly above the ocean surface. Called the hurricane boundary layer, it is where turbulent flows bring heat and moisture from the water into the air, and it plays a crucial role in determining a hurricane’s intensity and track.

Hasan says he is grateful for the guidance of Professor Oates in selecting and understanding the machine learning models. “It was a great team effort between mechanical engineering and computer science—really productive and rewarding for both sides,” he says.

Recently, we were saddened to learn that Dr. Zane Berge, a long-time professor of Education at UMBC, passed away on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. He was 71.

Both nationally and here at UMBC, Dr. Berge was a pioneer in the use of educational technology, especially distance education. A few of DoIT’s staff remember working with him on the old Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) committee, which eventually became the Faculty Senate’s Computer Policy Committee (CPC); starting a distance education program in Emergency Health Services; and even completing a dissertation under his wise counsel.

Jack Suess, Vice President of IT and Chief Information Officer: Dr. Berge was very well respected in the online learning community when he arrived at UMBC. In that early period, just after the world-wide web (WWW) was launched, there was tremendous uncertainty as to the impact that the Internet would have on teaching and learning. Dr. Berge chaired our Technology Enhanced Learning committee and was both a practical and empathetic champion for experimentation and student-centered learning. 

Jason Paluck, Enterprise Architect: “Dr. Berge was a delightful person, and absolutely instrumental in our initial Technology Enhanced Learning Committee proceedings as we worked with Tony Moreira, President Hrabowski, Graduate Dean Scott Bass and others in carving the path for online learning initiatives at UMBC. During the development of the Emergency Health Services online graduate program in the mid-1990s, the first accredited online program at UMBC, Dr. Berge played a pivotal role in guiding the departmental transition from traditional classroom-based education to the then-new frontier of online learning. His enthusiasm for innovation, mastery of his craft and enduring spirit will be sorely missed.”