In a shocking revelation, it has been reported that one of the young employees of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative has been linked to a notorious cybercrime ring. Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old who goes by the online moniker "Big Balls," is believed to have provided services to the group, known as "EGodly," which openly bragged about its illicit activities.
In 2022, when Coristine was still in high school, he ran a company called DiamondCDN that offered a type of web service known as a content delivery network. One of its users was none other than the cybercrime ring, "EGodly," which was known for trafficking stolen data and engaging in cyberstalking activities against law enforcement officials.
The group, which openly expressed its gratitude to Coristine's company, DiamondCDN, for providing it with "amazing DDoS protection and caching systems" that allowed it to securely host and safeguard its website. This revelation raises serious questions about the vetting process of young staff members like Coristine who are being granted alarming access to sensitive federal systems.
Coristine, as well as his irreverent nickname, have become a symbol of Elon Musk's efforts to blitzkrieg the federal government with next to no oversight. With high positions in government and senior advisory roles at the State Department and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Coristine is one of many young employees who are being scrutinized for their qualifications.
Concerns have been raised about the lack of oversight and vetting process for these young staff members, with several resigning or being rehired after racist tweets surfaced. One individual was even found to have professionally sold ketamine, while another was fired from a cybersecurity firm for leaking company secrets.
Coristine himself has a history of controversy, having been once fired by a cybersecurity firm for leaking its company secrets. Now, he is facing yet another skeleton in his closet as the cybercrime group "EGodly" claims to have stolen crypto, hijacked phone numbers, and broken into law enforcement email accounts in Latin America and Eastern Europe.
These claims could not be independently verified by Reuters, but it is clear that the group targeted a former FBI agent who was investigating them. They began by digging up personal information on the agent, such as where he lived, and eventually filmed themselves driving past his house, screaming "EGodly says you're a bitch!"
"These are bad folks," the former FBI agent said of the group. "They're not a pleasant group." While it appears that Coristine was not deeply involved with the group, his association with them raises serious concerns about the vetting process and the types of groups he has been associated with.
"This stuff was not in the distant past," Nitin Natarajan, who served as the deputy director of CISA under president Joe Biden, told Reuters. "The recency of the activity and the types of groups he was associated with would definitely be concerning."