Signal clone used by Mike Waltz Pause Service After Hacking Report
The messaging app At least one senior Trump administration is used, after reporting hackers who steal the data of the program. Smarsh, the parent company Telemessage, says he is currently investigating the incident.
“TeleMessage is investigating a potential security incident,” a spokesman for Smarsh told him in a statement. “Due to caution, all TeleMessage services are temporarily suspended. All Smarsh products and services are fully operational.”
Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, was captured by a Reuters photographer last week using an unauthorized version of the safe communication program-known as the TeleMessage or TM signal-and allowed users to archive. Waltz photos using the program show that he is communicating with other senior officials, including Vice President JD VANCE, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Experts told Wiried on Friday that, by definition, the TM signal archive feature weakens the end -to -end encryption, which makes the real signal communication program safe and private. 404 Independent Media and Journalist Mica Lee reported on Sunday that the program was violated by a hacker. NBC News reported on Monday that it has examined evidence of additional violations.
Telemessage was founded in Israel in 1999 and was obtained last year by the US Digital Communications Archives Smarsh. TeleMessage includes seemingly unauthorized versions of popular communication programs, including archive features for institutional adaptation. But the company claims that its appearance has the same digital defense of its legitimate counterparts and potentially gives users a sense of false security.
The use of the Waltz program last month after he appears to have added the Atlantic chief editor to the signal chat was under highly supervised in which Trump administration officials discussed the plans of a military operation. Signalgate, the scandal was finally a national security adviser before Waltz’s removal. President Trump said last week he plans to nominate him as the UN ambassador.
TeleMessage programs are not approved for use under US Federal Risk Management Program or Fedramp, but they appear to be expanding. Leak data from the TM signal indicate that several factors of US customs and border protection may use the signal alike. Asked whether CBP officers use the TM signal, the agency told Wired, “We are dealing with this.”
After a number of reports of Lee and 404 Media on the weekend, TeleMessage deleted all content from its website on Saturday and eliminated its archive service on Sunday.
“We are committed to transparency and we will share updates as far as we are able to share,” the Smarsh statement adds. “We thank our customers and partners for their trust and patience during this time.”
Experts are afraid that the information shared in the program could endanger US national security.
