DOGE Staffer Allegedly Ran Company Providing Services to Hacking Group

New allegations about DOGE advisor Edward “big balls” Coristine have raised significant questions about the hiring practices of the cryptocurrency organization. In a stunning revelation, it has been alleged that Coristine, who is now 19 years old, previously ran a small infrastructure provider called DiamondCDN that offered services to a cybercriminal group named ‘EGodly’. The connection between DiamondCDN and EGodly was established through digital records preserved by threat intelligence company DomainTools and online cybersecurity tool Any.Run.

According to Reuters, Coristine, who was just 16 years old at the time, had founded DiamondCDN in high school. The company supported a website used by EGodly, which boasts of carrying out crimes such as cryptocurrency theft, phone number hijacking, and breaking into law enforcement email accounts. The group also circulated personal details of an FBI agent it believed was investigating it, and engaged in swatting as a form of intimidation.

Records show that the support ran from October 2022 to June 2023, during which time users attempting to reach EGodly's dataleak.fun website would have had to pass a DiamondCDN anti-bot ‘security check’. This support was described by EGodly as “generously providing us with their amazing DDoS protection and caching systems, which allow us to securely host and safeguard our website”.

This is not the first time Coristine's past has been questioned. In February, Bloomberg reported that he was fired in 2022 by cybersecurity company Path Network for allegedly “leaking proprietary information”. Separately, it has been reported that Coristine was associated with a Telegram/Discord cybercriminal social network called ‘The Com’. However, for now, the allegations against him are just that — allegations. He has not commented on any of them.

Coristine's celebrity status within the DOGE community is significant, as he has been endorsed by Elon Musk himself, who tweeted in February that “Big Balls is awesome”, a reference to his vulgar nickname in high school. As part of his job, Coristine has access to some of the most confidential servers in the US government, including ones that normally require a high level of security clearance.

According to cybersecurity expert Graham Cluley, this raises significant concerns about hiring practices within DOGE and other organizations. “When you hire someone for a job, you’re wise to take a look at what they’ve done in the past,” Cluley said by email. “It gives you an idea of both their achievements, as well as, potentially, anything they might have got up to which would help shine light on their judgement, their ethics, and how they might perform in the role.”

The allegations against Coristine highlight the importance of careful vetting for job candidates. As cybersecurity expert Graham Cluley pointed out, it is essential to examine an individual's past achievements as well as any potential red flags that may indicate a lack of judgment or ethics.