Tech site 404 Media says Signal-like app used by Trump adviser was hacked

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

May 4, 2025 9:04 PM EDT Updated 10 hours ago


WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - The unofficial version of Signal used by Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has been hacked, tech site 404 Media said Sunday, raising further concern over the security of the communications exchanged at the highest levels of the U.S. government. 404 Media said the hacker exploited a vulnerability in TeleMessage, a Signal-like application which a Reuters photograph appeared to show Waltz using at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Waltz was ousted Thursday, several weeks after the eruption of a scandal over his creation of a Signal group to share realtime updates on U.S. military action in Yemen. The chat drew particular attention because Waltz, or someone using his account, accidentally added a prominent journalist to the group. The revelation that Waltz was using TeleMessage, which appears to have a similar interface and functionality as Signal, has only heightened the concerns over the security of his communications.

404 Media quoted the hacker - who didn't identify themself - as saying that they had broken into TeleMessage's backend infrastructure and been able to intercept some of its users' messages. 404 Media said the hacker provided them with material, some of which the news site was able to independently verify. The publication said that the hacker did not intercept messages from Waltz or other Trump cabinet officials.

Reuters could not independently verify the report. Messages seeking comment from TeleMessage and its corporate owner, Portland, Oregon-based Smarsh, were not immediately returned. Messages seeking comment from Waltz and the White House also weren't immediately returned.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/tech-site-404-media-says-signal-like-app-used-by-trump-adviser-was-hacked-2025-05-05/

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Link to 404 Media ARTICLE - https://www.404media.co/the-signal-clone-the-trump-admin-uses-was-hacked/

[Lovie777]

1. I believe the USA national and homeland security is an open book.................

shithole musk republicans are unqualified evil doers.

[ToxMarz]

2. So he's stupid enough to illegally use Signal for classified communications

And not even smart enought to actually use Signal, but got duped into using a Signal-like app.

It's gotta be good enough, right?

A Dunning-Kruger Luddite for national security director, what could go wrong.

[Autumn]

3. I can't bring myself to give a damn about this. They are so stupid

whatever happens happens. Nothing will ever be done about anything these idiots do.

[DoBW]

4. Stupid is policy....*nt*

[cayugafalls]

5. There are backdoors on all consumer based applications, intentional or not, they exist.

I lived IT for the past 40 years and written thousands, if not millions, of lines of code in that time and EVERY single application I wrote could be hacked by any coder with REAL knowledge of how things work.

I've reversed engineered code before on applications owned by corps, where source code has been lost, it can be done and has been done.

Proper security does not rely on the APPLICATION being used, it relies on the secure system it is used on and how that security is managed and maintained.

A consumer smartphone is like carrying all your personal data, passwords, bank accounts, credit cards around written in a notebook and then leaving it on a bus...your screwed if someone bad get their hands on it.

Trust me, a lost iphone or google phone can be hacked in under an hour if stolen in a foreign country, how do I know? I spent 2 years working support after retirement for Apple and I can't count how many frantic calls I got from people travelling abroad who had their phone stolen and they were watching their email, credit cards and online accounts being hacked in real time.

Lesson learned? When travelling abroad, use a burner phone, leave your main device at home.

JMH IT Opinion

Peace.

[ultralite001]

6. Roger that...

TIA...