Signal affair: US government uses modified messenger – that was cracked
It was already known that the US government uses Signal extensively. Now there was a hint that this was probably done via a modified app. It was cracked.
(Image: photobyphotoboy/Shutterstock.com)
Less than a week after it became known that high-ranking representatives of the US government were apparently using the crypto messenger Signal via a special app that bypasses central functions, this application has now been cracked. This is reported by 404 Media and adds another twist to the Signal affair in Donald Trump's administration. Just last Thursday, the US magazine reported that photos of the National Security Advisor show that he is not using Signal on his smartphone, but a modified app that appears to be TeleMessage. Mike Waltz was previously at the center of the Signal affair and lost his post last week.
Messages are recorded
According to the report, TeleMessage enables the use of crypto messengers such as Signal and WhatsApp, including the interception of messages for archiving purposes. This is intended to enable official bodies in the US government to use them without violating archiving purposes. To this end, copies of the messages are sent to TeleMessage, writes 404 Media. The US magazine discovered this using the application's source code. The service thus adds an attack option to messengers, which has now actually been exploited for Signal.
As 404 Media explains, the anonymous attacker managed to view direct messages and content from group chats that were sent or received via TeleMessage. Although none of them were from US cabinet members, the magazine was able to view those that indicated that they came from a group in the US Congress debating a bill. Others appear to be from the US Border Patrol, the crypto exchange Coinbase and a bank. The modified application is also used by the police in the US capital, Washington, D.C., according to the report. If the attacker had wanted to, the person could have tapped into much more, says 404 Media.
Videos by heise
The next twist
The application came to public attention last week when a Reuters photo showed Waltz using the application on his smartphone during a US government meeting. The photo showed that the latest messages appeared to come from US Vice President JD Vance, Intelligence Coordinator Tulsi Gabbard and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among others. All of these conversations were therefore potentially accessible to unauthorized individuals. Waltz lost his post shortly afterward and is now set to become the new US ambassador to the United Nations.
The Signal affair began at the end of March with the revelation that a renowned US journalist had been accidentally added to a group chat on Signal. Waltz and other high-ranking US government officials exchanged secret information about US military strikes. It was subsequently revealed that the messenger is much more widely used in the US government. Yet such commercial software on private mobile devices is completely unsuitable for such conversations for various reasons. The fact that it was not Signal itself, but the modified – app from TeleMessage, which has been expanded to include attack points, has now added another chapter to the case.
(mho)
