The Trump Administration Switched to a Sketchy Signal Clone and It Got Hacked, Leaking Messages
It's a disturbing revelation that has left cybersecurity experts and officials alike reeling: the Trump administration switched to a sketchy Signal clone, which was easily hacked, leaking sensitive messages and compromising national security.
A copy of the messaging app Signal, popular among politicians and government officials, was spotted in Reuters photographs of Mike Waltz's smartphone during a recent cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump. However, what caught experts' attention was not the fact that Waltz was using a modified version of Signal but that he was using an obscure app sold by Israeli company TeleMessage to archive messages.
According to 404 Media reports, the hacker exploited major security vulnerabilities in the app, obtaining the contents of certain direct messages and group chats. The breach not only exposed sensitive data but also demonstrated that archived chat logs aren't end-to-end encrypted, leaving officials and citizens vulnerable to interception.
The App in Question: A Vulnerable Target for Hackers
TeleMessage, an Israeli company, sells its Signal clone app to the US government to archive messages. The fact that it was used by Waltz, secretary of state Marco Rubio, vice president JD Vance, and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, raises serious questions about the administration's cybersecurity measures.
Experts have warned that sensitive data could quickly land in the wrong hands, making apps like Signal and TeleMessage obvious targets for foreign adversary hacking groups. The situation is made worse by the fact that Waltz was previously using an unmodified version of Signal to discuss highly sensitive information, a major deviation from Department of Defense protocol.
The Human Error Behind the Breach
According to sources close to the White House, Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat that contained discussions about war plans in Yemen. This embarrassing mistake may have led to Waltz's ouster as national security advisor on May 1.
The Implications of the Breach
Not only did the breach expose sensitive data, but it also highlights enormous gaps in the Trump administration's cybersecurity measures. The hacker claimed that the process took about 15-20 minutes to exploit the vulnerabilities, making it an easy target for foreign adversary hacking groups.
The situation could be even worse than initially thought. Experts warn that if this breach happened in less than 30 minutes, it's only a matter of time before other government officials and institutions are compromised. The White House has maintained that Signal is on the approved list of apps that can be used by government officials, but their lack of transparency on the use of TeleMessage raises serious questions.
More Questions Than Answers
The White House failed to field NBC News' question about the use of TeleMessage last week. Instead, deputy press secretary Anna Kelly stated that no classified material was shared in the group chat, but this claim has been disputed by experts who point out that archived chat logs are not end-to-end encrypted.
As this story unfolds, one thing is clear: the Trump administration's cybersecurity measures have failed to protect sensitive information. It's time for the government to take a closer look at its security protocols and ensure that such breaches don't happen again in the future.