The National Security Agency issued an operational security special bulletin to its staff at the end of February 2024, carrying the warning that the encrypted messaging application Signal might not be secure, according to a report published by CBS News today.

Such a perceived vulnerability puts the White House in an even worse light after yesterday’s news when Jeffrey Goldberg, an editor at The Atlantic, let it be known that he was accidentally invited to join a chat in which top government officials discussed war plans against Yemen’s Houthis and riled up Europe with some choice words.

Questions are now being asked if the new government should be talking about highly classified activity, discussing what Goldberg said were “weapons packages, targets, and timing,” on any medium that is not a sanctioned government communication channel. It’s well-known that these options exist, with a former White House official telling Politico the blooper was “unbelievable.”

Today’s revelation compounds what happened. “A vulnerability has been identified in the Signal Messenger Application,” began the NSA’s bulletin. “The use of Signal by common targets of surveillance and espionage activity has made the application a high-value target to intercept sensitive information.”

The agency warned of “Russian professional hacking groups” who were possibly spying on encrypted conversations. “The hacking groups embed malicious QR codes in phishing pages or conceal them in group invited links,” the bulletin went on. “After gaining access by the malicious code, the groups add their own devices as a linked device.” If this was successful, the group could then see every message sent in real time.

The bulletin finished with a reminder that NSA employees should not be using third-party messaging applications such as Signal or any other regular app to discuss sensitive information. The fact that Signal can’t be downloaded on federal devices means the group, which included Vice President JD Vance, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, were very likely conducting their conversation on their personal devices.

Both Ratcliffe and Gabbard were asked to testify about the debacle. The two said none of the communications sent in the chat was classified. Ratcliffe said it served as a “mechanism for communicating between senior-level officials but not a substitute for using high-side or classified communications.”

Both of them denied any of the information included operational details, which contradicts Goldberg’s assertion. Still, it’s not a good look for Trump’s administration any way you look at it.

“It should go without saying that administration officials should not be using Signal for discussing intelligence matters reserved for the situation room — not to mention doing so incompetently by including members of the public,” said House Homeland Security ranking member Bennie Thompson, who has oversight of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

As for President Trump, his response has been predictable, with his team saying the uproar is a distraction from his accomplishments. “Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man,” Trump said, saying Goldberg being added to the group was a mere “glitch” and had “no impact at all” in terms of the operation.

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