NYT: Hegseth's Personal Phone Use Created Vulnerabilities, Analysts Say

[Dennis Donovan]

NYT - (archived: https://archive.ph/8U2FG ) Hegseth’s Personal Phone Use Created Vulnerabilities, Analysts Say

The phone number used in the Signal chat could also be found in a variety of places, including on social media and a fantasy sports site.

By Helene Cooper, Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt and Christiaan Triebert
April 25, 2025
Updated 8:00 a.m. ET

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s personal phone number, the one used in a recent Signal chat, was easily accessible on the internet and public apps as recently as March, potentially exposing national security secrets to foreign adversaries.

The phone number could be found in a variety of places, including WhatsApp, Facebook and a fantasy sports site. It was the same number through which the defense secretary, using the Signal commercial messaging app, disclosed flight data for American strikes on the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Cybersecurity analysts said an American defense secretary’s communications device would usually be among the most protected national security assets.

“There’s zero percent chance that someone hasn’t tried to install Pegasus or some other spyware on his phone,” Mike Casey, the former director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said in an interview. “He is one of the top five, probably, most targeted people in the world for espionage.”

Emily Harding, a defense and security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, added: “You just don’t want the secretary of defense’s phone number to be out there and available to anyone.”

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[C_U_L8R]

1. The whole Trump team is compromised

There isn't one who doesn't use burner devices and alternative comm channels - all of which are insecure and dangerous - just so they can avoid accountability. It's criminal.