Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has fired more than 100 employees working for the U.S. government's cybersecurity agency CISA, including "red team" staffers and incident response team members. This move is the latest round of staff cuts to hit the federal cybersecurity agency since the start of the Trump administration.

The layoffs, which occurred in late February and early March, were sudden and without prior warning, with affected employees' network access revoked immediately. Two people affected by the layoffs, who wished to remain anonymous, shared their experiences with TechCrunch.

CISA spokesperson Tess Hyre declined to comment on the latest round of job cuts affecting the agency and wouldn't say how many employees had been affected. However, Hyre stated that CISA's red team "remains operational" and that the agency is "reviewing all contracts to ensure that they align with the priorities of the new administration."

According to one of the affected employees, CISA red team employees, who simulate real-world attacks to identify security weaknesses in networks before attackers do, were among those affected by the DOGE-enforced cuts. Another person affected by the layoffs revealed that laid-off employees also include staffers who worked for CISA's Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT), which is responsible for penetration testing and vulnerability management of networks belonging to U.S. federal government departments and agencies.

The layoffs have raised concerns about the impact on the security of government systems. One of the affected employees expressed uncertainty about the future of these systems, stating, "As far as what will happen to those government systems, I have no knowledge."

The scale of the layoffs is significant, with over 80 employees supporting continuous monitoring and between 30 and 50 employees working in incident response affected. One of the affected employees jokingly referred to their new job search as looking for "DOGE-resistant gigs," describing the experience as "DOGE felt like a ballistic missile with no guidance system."

This is the third known round of job cuts to affect CISA employees since January 20. More than 130 CISA employees were cut by DOGE earlier in February, according to reports, and several CISA employees working on election security were placed on leave in January. The cumulative impact of these layoffs on the agency's ability to protect the nation's cybersecurity infrastructure remains to be seen.

The move raises questions about the priorities of the new administration and the role of DOGE in shaping the government's cybersecurity agenda. As the situation unfolds, it is essential to monitor the implications of these layoffs on the nation's cybersecurity and the affected employees.