Steven Vaughan-Nichols: When high-level US government officials go their own way with regard to top-secret communications, what could possibly go wrong?
More from the OpEd ...
... You know how IT admins are always warning employees about best practices for security? They're always mandating which apps to use, which to avoid and which devices can safely connect to corporate networks.[emphasis mine]
You know why they do that? To keep idiot workers from going rogue and endangering corporate data and secrets.
Case in point: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who's under fire this week for -- and it's almost too stupid to be true, but it is -- setting up a high-level chat using Signal for top National Security officials to discuss a military attack. And then somehow, some way, a journalist -- Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the liberal publication The Atlantic -- was invited to join the secretaries of State and Treasury, the director of the CIA, and the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, for the discussion.
Now, I like serious spy shows. Give me Gary Oldman as George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Solider Spy to keep me on the edge of my seat. But I can't watch those now, because the real world has gotten so stupid I can no longer suspend my disbelief.
I still have trouble believing what Hegseth and company did. So does Goldberg: "I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal, [the popular, secure messaging service] about imminent war plans. I also could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior U.S. officials, up to and including the vice president."
Believe it. Goldberg was added to the Houthi PC small group. The virtual group's purpose was to talk about planning a military strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen. Goldberg wasn't asked if he wanted to be involved; he was just added. If there was a group administrator, he or she paid no attention whatsoever to what they were doing. ...
OK, maybe this was on Sec Hegseth's mind at the time ...
Humble Pie - 79th And Sunset (1972)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
Well this yellow haired snake sits snug as a bug
Got more angle than a toby jug
Star lock hair pins, honey has faults
Shows her legs when opportunity knocks
Underneath her red sweater
She's a big-deal go-getter
There'll be some dramas inside your pajamas tonight, oh yeah
Yes there's red eyed Ruby with her built up hips
She's got nut crushing ----- and jam tart lips
Says her angle is connections downtown L. A
When you know she's just a hustler from the boys' brigade
Well she's the same old number
She just looks like your mother
There be salutations on you humble frillations tonight, oh yes right
She's young, she's wealthy, she's far from healthy
She does it up in Beverly Hills
She wears a foam back bra, she drives her daddy's car
Has appeal to bend your will
...
Oh, nymphomanic nimrod ......... thigh-high boots
Beat the hungry minions she planned ....................
Keep on trucking, think of all the fun you had
You know there's such a lot of good ways to be bad
...
Yeah, they don't write lyrics like that anymore. ;)
@#2 ... The biggest security hole in any corporation is the employees. ...
Absolutely.
Back in the day, when I was in IT, the cute saying at the time was ...
The biggest possible security breach is between the chair and the keyboard.
...Etymology
Acronym of problem exists between chair and keyboard.
...
@#7 ... If they don't learn from it then the Russians and the Chinese and anyone else who can will take advantage of that. ...
Chinese believed to have targeted Trump's and Vance's phones in US telecommunications breach (October 2024)
www.theguardian.com
Cybersecurity News: Signal conversations hacked
cisoseries.com
... Russian state-backed hackers are exploiting Signal's "linked devices" feature to hijack accounts by tricking targets"often Ukrainian military personnel"into scanning malicious QR codes. Once linked, attackers can intercept messages in real time without fully compromising the victim's device. Google researchers identified multiple threat groups using this technique, with some embedding QR codes in phishing pages disguised as military applications or security alerts. Signal has rolled out security updates to counter these threats but urging users to take extra precautions when scanning QR codes. ...
Even Republicans say Trump's Signalgate scandal is serious: poll
www.axios.com
... Three out of four Americans " including 60% of Republicans " say the Trump administration's use of a Signal group chat to discuss military strikes is a serious problem, according to the first poll out on the national security breach.
Why it matters: The White House's efforts to downplay the explosive report from The Atlantic have so far failed to quell the controversy, even as White House officials initially said they believed it would die down.
- - - President Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard have all denied that classified materials were shared in the chat that inadvertently included The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. ...
LOL!
Pete Hegseth Blows Into Breathalyzer To Unlock Phone
WASHINGTON"Grumbling to himself as he repeatedly dropped the device, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was reportedly blowing into a Breathalyzer Thursday in an attempt to unlock his phone. "Stupid ------- judge made me put this on my iPhone," said the head of the nation's largest government agency, snapping his fingers to get the attention of his deputy defense secretary and ask his subordinate to blow into the Breathalyzer for him. "Hey, could you do me a favor here? It's not working, I think because I used mouthwash before I left the house this morning. Please? It's really important. I got to send some war plans." At press time, sources confirmed Hegseth was sleeping it off in a SCIF.
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