So, Who’s Getting Fired for This? Accidentally texting war plans to a journalist is clear cause for dismissal.

“the main way bad actors get access to confidential files is by tricking people, not by overcoming strong encryption”

Exactly correct. I work with security and encryption protocols all the time, and I’ve written code that uses it in the corporate world. I agree that the “platform” of Signal can be considered “weak” by not having better controls on who can access, but apart from whether Signal was allowed for use by those officials, the main issue is who added the journalist to the conversation in the first place. Even in the corporate world, we explain to customers that any security of that type will be compromised by physical access to a device being protected. Any secure conversation is only as secure as those on it.

In private use, if those who start a conversation are careful to add only those who should be on it in the first place, the encryption is indeed quite strong. Of course there are entities working on breaking it. I’d be shocked if that were not the case. There’s work on breaking every type of encryption, and I’m sure our government is among those who want access and are trying to break it. Our law enforcement agencies complain all the time about the public being able to use strong encryption that they can’t read.

One of my former colleagues pointed out that he thought it was possible that Signal use was allowed by the government having a special contract with them, and that the reason the journalist was added wasn’t a mistake, but was intentional by leftover Biden officials still in the government. I don’t think that’s the case, but if it isn’t, then that means its use was unauthorized. Mistake number one, followed by adding someone not cleared, either intentionally or by mistake. The government can’t just let this incident go, and I doubt that they are.

I may have to eat my words about Signal not being recommended for government use. This link for CISA (https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2024/12/18/cisa-releases-best-p…) points to a document released on 12/18/2024 (while Biden administration was still in power) that says:

While applicable to all audiences, this guidance specifically addresses “highly targeted” individuals who are in senior government or senior political positions and likely to possess information of interest to these threat actors.

This guidance document (https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/guidance-mobile-commun…) mentions using the Signal app for mobile communications.

While I still might question the wisdom of a national security conversation being held on a Signal group, it’s not as cut-and-dried as I previously thought.

Dave,

These are broad highlights. CISA is not responsible for department guidance, nor does it "approve" an app carte blanche for all activities. It has been highlighted that Signal is not an approved mechanism for DoD secret communications. Whether what stuff was communicated rises to that level, time will tell.

Well, I agree about these being broad highlights, as you put it, and I would assume that secret DoD communications would have their own mechanism. What this document does do, however, at least as I see it, is make it clear that Signal isn’t some “illicit back door” when used by government officials.

My take is a little more simple, and is more or less borrowed from my employer, which asks employees "how would you feel if this got to the front page of a newspaper?". In terms of defense, the algorithm is "could somebody get killed if this information got leaked?".

The big question is not whether the information is classified, or whether the channel you might use is approved. Just ask if the DOD is likely to need to send a man in uniform to inform a mother/wife/etc.. that they have just gotten a gold star they definitely never wanted.

Yes, sometimes you need to do all the bureaucratic things, and sometimes, you just need to use your head. Unfortunately, for at least the past 15 years or so, that's been rare in DC.

It's funny how often everyone's knee-jerk reaction to media reports about the Trump administration prove to be foolish, uninformed, and predictable. Just know that when you do this, you're falling for the scam by those deranged types (I know we've been told authoritatively that TDS does not exist, but the evidence just keeps piling up.)

It's funny how often everyone's knee-jerk reaction to media reports about the Trump administration prove to be foolish, uninformed, and predictable.

And it's funny how often they prove to be accurate.

It's funny how often Republicans make excuses for the administration's mistakes.

It's funny how often a desire for accountability is labeled as derangement.

There sure is a lot of funny stuff going on.

A few of the more incriminating texts have been released, and one of them mentions timetables and the launch of F-18s for arrival over target at 1345, as well as MQ-9 "Reaper" drones launch.

To draw a picture, during Iraq War 1, I was in college, and the ROTC cadets were highly amused at CNN reporters asking Air Force spokesmen what planes were flying those missions. The spokesmen's response was a very polite "If they know what planes are coming, they know how to shoot them down.", or some such thing, but the ROTC cadets were certain to point out that the thoughts of the Air Force spokesman definitely included a few expletives comparing the intelligence of the CNN reporter to that of equus asinus.

It isn't quite as big a deal as Hilliary's server ("tell me, which of these emails would you like on the front page of the Washington Post? Or will you work with us, Secretary Clinton?") or Biden's apparent cash for influence ("Prezident Biden, would you like the world to know how you got Hunter that position with Burisma?"), but it's still a pretty big deal.

"It's funny how often everyone's knee-jerk reaction to media reports about the Trump administration prove to be foolish"

Knee jerk??

The entire transcript was posted publicly with the names of the individuals. The government confirmed that the discussions were real. The participants confirmed they were on the app, and Trump confirmed it. No one is denying it. The only thing in question, is whether what was discussed was classified and whether it was appropriate. I can't comment on whether it met the DoD's rules of secret. They will find that out in the hearing. As far as TDS, this isn't about Trump. It is about Hegsworth and Waltz. Trump wasn't on the app, sharing information, or inviting reporters to the conversation.

Signal is very secure. It was the one communication app that was recommended while we were in China, as the govt was unable to break its encryption. Also banned there, naturally.

"Signal is very secure",

as stated before, Signal is not sufficiently secure for this type of communication. Signal in and of itself and more specifically encryption is only a small piece of basic cybersecurity. You don't need to break the encryption to access the communication. You can compromise the phone for example. When viewing and typing, nothing is encrypted, it is just in plaintext. You can access it via sniffers and other elements. Access controls are not secure either. As was clearly shown the reporter of the Atlantic had no problems accessing the information, despite encryption.

I would expect operational war plans would not be discussed by individuals who are being monitored by state actors to be using a free public app to discuss.

A Russian graduate student who protested Putin's rule is set to be expelled for a minor customs violation (bringing frog embryos into the country without declaring them), and a former executive who was caught falsifying data on his electric truck company (Nikola) by rolling the truck down a hill instead of doing honest tests has been pardoned....after making large donations to President Trump.

I don't like to say this, but I am getting to the point where I think Trump needs to be impeached and removed from office. He is destroying our alliances and relationships with our trade partners, is acting as if operational security doesn't matter in our approach to the Houthis, is greatly violating immigration law as he seeks to expedite deportations, has kowtowed to Putin and Chairman "Pooh" Xi, and appears to be doing favors for Putin by expelling a grad student who dared to speak up against him.

Sorry, but this isn't the America I know and love.

Bert, I expect someone will be along shortly to diagnose you with Trump Derangement Syndrome.

I actually agree with Bert. He needs to go. Warning signs were there, but a lot of people were hoping he was actually something different. Wish we could have had desantis.

I don't know what he is doing with these tarifs, none of them make sense, and just waffling every week is just making the economy a mess. He is going to tax cars 25% if they use parts or are made in foreign countries. There is not a single car in America that is made 100% in the US. His idea is to bring back manufacturing? It takes 4-5 years to build a multi-billion dollar factory in the US. So he is going to give all of us a 25% increase in price, so that maybe someone will bring back manufacturing once he is out of office?

And he announces today that he is going to take Greenland at any cost?