'Less secured' Signal app used by former Trump advisor Mike Waltz hacked: Report

An unofficial version of the Signal messaging app, reportedly used by former Trump administration National Security Adviser (NSA) Mike Waltz, has been hacked, a report has claimed. According to a tech news site 404 Media, the hacker exploited a vulnerability within TeleMessage , an application resembling Signal in its functionality.

The publication also claims that the unidentified hacker, who has claimed to have breached TeleMessage's backend infrastructure, intercepted messages from some of the app’s users and has provided supporting material, some of which 404 Media was able to independently verify.

However, the publication noted that the hacker did not intercept any messages belonging to Waltz or other members of the Trump cabinet.

The publication claimed that data related to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the cryptocurrency giant Coinbase and other financial institutions are included in the hacked material.

The app was recently spotted in a photograph shared by news agency Reuters. It appeared to show Waltz using TeleMessage – a less secure version of Signal app – during a cabinet meeting last week.

Waltz fired from his position as NSA
Waltz was ousted from his position on Thursday (May 1), several weeks after a scandal erupted concerning his creation of a Signal group chat to share real-time updates on US military actions in Yemen. The chat garnered attention when Waltz mistakenly added a prominent journalist to the group.

While Signal is an end-to-end encrypted messaging platform designed to prevent unauthorised surveillance, TeleMessage, a Smarsh product undergoing rebranding as Capture Mobile, is engineered to capture messages after decryption for preservation and storage purposes, the report says.

Earlier this week, a Signal spokesperson told Reuters that the company “cannot guarantee the privacy or security properties of unofficial versions of Signal.”