The encrypted messaging app signal has attracted unexpected attention this week.
Top Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Peter Hegses, informed the plans for an attack on the Yemeni Hoosis via potentially unauthorized group chats on the signal. However, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, was accidentally added to the group chat, allowing him access to these very sensitive discussions that he later published.
The signaling app itself malfunctioned or did not work in an unintended way. Rather, incorrectly adding journalists to chat about US military plans is a user error. This should be prevented if government security protocols are actually following.
When Atlantic’s story broke Monday, global signal downloads on iOS and Google Play rose 28% from their daily average over the past 30 days, according to app intelligence firm Appfigures. In the US, downloads rose 45% on Monday and 42% in Yemen. Before the scandal, Signal ranked 50th among Yemen’s social media apps, but rose to ninth on Monday.
The signal did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
All communications on the signal are encrypted. In other words, only those who are chatting can view the text. Even people who work at the signal cannot know what users are talking about. However, the signal is intended to become a secure messaging consumer product, rather than a steel-covered depository for government military programs.
Hegseth said there was “no war plan” discussed in the signal chat, but Atlantic released a message indicating that Hegseth would provide details about the timing of the attack, as well as the weapons and aircraft used.
As of Thursday, the government continues to investigate this monumental security failure.
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