By Binghamton University, State University of New York
NEWSWISE–Signal has been exploited in the past and shouldn’t have been used so carelessly by government officials, according to Thi Tran, a cybersecurity researcher at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
The messaging platform Signal made headlines and sparked concerns and debate in the U.S. after it was revealed that a journalist from The Atlantic had been privy to a conversation in which government officials were discussing a war plan.
“As officials, they must have gone through serious security training, particularly about policies in handling classified information and trusting communication channels,” Tran said, “yet this incident suggested that these preparations might not be effective in preventing unwanted consequences such as leaked sensitive information,”
Tran said that Signal has faced multiple incidents of being hacked or exploited by cybercriminals, and that it should not be trusted by government officials to use and share sensitive and valuable information.
“The incident could have been prevented if the involved staff had been more careful when using such a platform with existing security issues, if they were careful in checking the list of members in the group chat and the settings of the group, and if they complied with regulations and warnings of not to disclose military related sensitive information, whether or not such information has been classified in any specific levels of sensitivity,” said Tran.
