Concerns about espionage rise as Trump and Musk fire thousands of federal workers

Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk work to overhaul the federal government, they're forcing out thousands of workers with insider knowledge and connections who now need a job. For Russia, China and other adversaries, the upheaval in Washington as Musk's Department of Government Efficiency guts government agencies presents an unprecedented opportunity to recruit informants, national security and intelligence experts say.
Every former federal worker with knowledge of or access to sensitive information or systems could be a target. When thousands of them leave their jobs at the same time, that creates a lot of targets, as well as a counterespionage challenge for the United States.
«This information is highly valuable, and it shouldn't be surprising that Russia and China and other organisations — criminal syndicates for instance — would be aggressively recruiting government employees,» said Theresa Payton, a former White House chief information officer under President George W. Bush, who now runs her own cybersecurity firm.
Many agencies oversee crucial data Each year an average of more than 100,000 federal workers leave their jobs. Some retire; others move to the private sector. This year, in three months, the number is already many times higher.

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It's not just intelligence officers who present potential security risks. Many departments and agencies oversee vast amounts of data that include personal information on Americans as well as sensitive information about national security and government operations. Exiting employees could also give away helpful security secrets that would allow someone to penetrate government databases or physical offices.
The Office of the US Trade Representative, for instance,