The head of the US intelligence community admits that Signal is pre-installed on government devices, despite the government telling employees not to use it.
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At a hearing of the House Intelligence Committee, Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, testified that the messaging app Signal was pre-installed on government devices. This is likely to further escalate the issue of senior government officials, including the vice president, having important war-related conversations on private apps that should not be used for classified communications, according to media reports.
Gabbard says Signal comes 'pre-installed' on government devices - POLITICO
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/26/gabbard-signal-government-devices-cybersecurity-00250731
Gabbard stands by use of Signal chat as Democratic ire grows - Roll Call
https://rollcall.com/2025/03/26/gabbard-stands-by-use-of-signal-chat-as-democratic-ire-grows/
Intelligence officials remain defensive on Signal debate - Nextgov/FCW
https://www.nextgov.com/defense/2025/03/intelligence-officials-remain-defensive-signal-debate/404083/
The whole incident began with a leak on March 24, 2025, which revealed that 18 cabinet-level government officials had created a chat group on Signal called the 'Houthi PC Small Group' and were sharing information about bombing military bases of the Houthi rebels, a pro-Iranian armed group in Yemen.
President Trump's aide accidentally leaks top-secret war plans, actual screenshots also released - GIGAZINE
The National Security Agency (NSA) has previously warned against using Signal for sensitive communications, citing the risk that professional Russian hacking groups could use phishing to bypass Signal's end-to-end encryption and access encrypted conversations.
Nevertheless, the use of Signal by senior cabinet members to communicate important 'war plans' for the U.S. military, which led to the leaking of information about the bombings to civilians in advance, has become a major issue, and at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on March 25, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was questioned about the use of Signal.
Gabbard, the director of national intelligence who oversees agencies such as the NSA, CIA, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), appeared at the House Intelligence Committee's annual hearing on global threats on the 26th. 'The conversation on Signal was candid and sensitive, but as the president and other officials have already stated, no classified information was shared. It was a standard update provided to the National Security Cabinet along with updates provided to foreign partners in the region,' she said, reiterating her view that no important information was leaked.
Gabbard further explained that government employees are encouraged to use encrypted apps like Signal for communication when in-person meetings are not possible, and that Signal comes pre-installed on government devices.
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The 'recommendations' Gabbard was referring to are guidelines from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) that instruct companies to use only end-to-end encrypted communications.
However, a document (PDF file) created by the Department of Defense in 2023 stipulates that 'unmanaged apps' that are not under the control of the U.S. government are not allowed to access nonpublic information, making it a delicate issue as to whether government officials can use Signal to communicate important information.
Gabbard argued that the Signal chats in question were not classified because they did not include details like locations or sources. But Rep. Joaquin Castro, a nine-year member of the Intelligence Committee, countered, 'The idea that that information would be presented in a conference and not be classified is absurd. I have seen things presented that are far less sensitive than that classified.'
Additionally, Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, said, 'People with the most dangerous and sensitive jobs on the planet posted very specific, pre-decision discussions of a military attack on Signal, which could have been intercepted by Russia or China. If they had transmitted that to the Houthis, they could have easily redirected their weapons to shoot down bombers or sink ships. It is by God's great grace that we are not mourning our lost pilots right now.'
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