On Monday, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, claimed he was invited to a Signal group chat with President Donald Trump's cabinet, where Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared confidential war plans. As a result, the private contact details of top US security advisers are now accessible on the internet.
German publication DER SPIEGEL revealed that their reporters managed to uncover mobile phone numbers, email addresses, and even some officials' passwords. They achieved this by using commercial people search engines and hacked customer data published online.
The leaks have significantly implicated National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Hegseth. The report stated, "Most of the publicly accessible numbers and email addresses are likely still being used by those affected."
"Some are linked to profiles on Instagram and LinkedIn, among others. Dropbox accounts and profiles in apps that track traffic data were created with them. WhatsApp profiles, and in some cases even Signal accounts, can be found for the respective phone numbers. The research therefore reveals another serious security vulnerability in Washington that was previously unknown," DER SPIEGEL wrote.
The report also revealed that Gabbard and Waltz's privately used and publicly searchable phone numbers were available as recently as Wednesday. These numbers are connected to the Signal accounts involved in "Signalgate."
DER SPIEGEL warned that hostile intelligence agencies might exploit the leaked information to hack communications sent through those devices by deploying spyware. "It is therefore conceivable that foreign agents were reading along as Gabbard, Waltz, and Hegseth discussed a military strike with others in a Signal chat," the report indicated.
In the piece, Goldberg recounted that on March 11, he got a "connection request" via Signal from Waltz, which he accepted, thinking Waltz "wanted to chat about Ukraine, or Iran, or some other important matter."
Waltz has faced significant fallout since the Atlantic's bombshell, with citizens calling for their removal over the security breach.
Waltz took to Fox News on Tuesday, declaring he would take accountability for the leak. "I take full responsibility. "I built the group," he said. He continued: "It's embarrassing. We're going to get to the bottom of it."
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