According to a report by the British "Guardian" on May 2, local time, former national security adviser Michael Waltz, who was just fired by US President Trump on the 1st, was photographed using a "copycat version" of the Signal communication software to communicate with a number of senior US government officials at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (April 30). According to reports, this software is even less secure than Signal, the messaging app involved that triggered a major national security scandal in the United States last month.
According to the report, according to the mobile phone chat interface photographed by a Reuters reporter, Waltz communicated with US Vice President Vance, US Secretary of State Rubio, US Director of National Intelligence Gabbard, and US Special Envoy for the Middle East Witkov through this application software. Although the photo does not fully show all the messages sent by Waltz, one of the messages that appears to be sent to Rubio reads, "There is still time"; another message that appears to be from Vance reads, "I have confirmed from the other party that the other side is closed and he will arrive..."
The Guardian quoted US media sources as saying that the software Waltz used seemed to be software developed by TeleMessage - a company that specializes in cloning popular messaging apps and adding message archiving capabilities to each cloned version. The report explained that White House officials may have used this version to comply with legal requirements that presidential records must be kept on file. However, it has also raised questions about how these officials ensure data security when discussing on the platform.
On March 24, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, published an article stating that senior U.S. national security officials had pulled him into a confidential group chat on the "Signal" software about the combat plan to combat the Houthi armed forces in Yemen earlier that month, which involved details such as attack targets, attack sequences, and weapons to be deployed by the United States. In an interview with the American Fox TV station on March 25, Waltz denied that he had "deliberately" brought American media personnel into a confidential group chat about combat plans, but he said that he took full responsibility for the matter. Trump announced via social media on May 1 that he would nominate Waltz as the next U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. This is equivalent to announcing that Waltz has been relieved of his position as the President's National Security Advisor.