¿Cómo deben los funcionarios estadounidenses acostumbrarse a compartir planes clasificados?

The Trump administration has downplayed the significance of the security breach, describing it as a «unique failure in two months.» Signal, a publicly accessible messaging application, entered the spotlight after a journalist was added to a group chat among U.S. national security officials while coordinating plans to attack Houthi targets in Yemen. President Donald Trump has diminished the importance of the leak by labeling it a «technical failure,» while National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard asserts that no classified intelligence was shared.

The Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to the chat, has since published additional messages that subtly reveal leaked information. In these messages, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth outlines detailed plans for attacking Houthi targets, including terms and weapons used.

National Security Councilor Mike Waltz took full responsibility for the leak. According to screenshots provided by The Atlantic, Waltz was the user who added Goldberg to the chat. Questions arose about why a commercial application was used to discuss potentially compromising information and how a journalist was added to the chat, seemingly by mistake.

Signal is praised for being one of the most secure messaging applications on the market. It can be used for direct messages, group chats, and audio and video calls. Owned by the non-profit Signal Foundation, its mission is to enable safe global communication through open-source privacy technology. With an estimated 70 million users worldwide by 2024, it is not as widely used as competitors like WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage. User accounts are registered and managed with the user’s mobile number as the only personal data stored.

The Signal application uses a more robust end-to-end encryption (E2EE) than its competitors. This encryption ensures that any message sent from one user to another cannot be accessed by third parties, not even the platform itself. Signal’s encryption is always on and implicit, in contrast to other platforms like Telegram where E2EE is not activated in many popular features. Additionally, Signal’s encryption protocol is open-source, allowing cybersecurity researchers and experts to examine the code to ensure it meets the highest standards.

In terms of security, Signal is highly regarded among journalists and activists. However, the vulnerability lies in the device itself, as state actors may have the capability to hack mobile devices and access communications. This is why government officials often use dedicated devices for secure communications.

The recent incident involving Signal among U.S. officials was deemed a significant lapse in judgment. According to CBS News’ flight tracking analysis, Steve Witkoff, a key figure in the group chat, was in Moscow when he was added to the chat. Witkoff had traveled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin as part of diplomatic efforts in Ukraine. The potential security risk of Witkoff being in Russia was highlighted by the control the government has over the network connection, making it susceptible to network hacking.

Another method that foreign states could potentially use to access these communications is through covert electromagnetic radiation to capture device signals via an antenna, essentially monitoring all device screen activity.

Signal is popular among journalists, who use it to minimize security risks when communicating with sources. It is also favored by dissidents seeking to avoid government surveillance. In early 2020, the European Commission informed its staff that they would start using Signal as part of a security campaign. Despite its popularity, the Pentagon recently warned its staff not to use the messaging app, citing vulnerabilities exploited by Russian hackers in encrypted conversations.

There are concerns that senior U.S. officials participating in the Signal chat may have violated U.S. laws on maintaining public records. The disappearing messages feature of Signal, unlike WhatsApp, does not allow users to recover deleted messages if they have opted for a backup system. An anonymous former U.S. government security official suggested that chat communications should have been retained as part of U.S. record-keeping laws.

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