The Pentagon installed a system in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office that allowed him to check messages on the encrypted messaging app Signal while in the office, according to sources familiar with the matter. Two of the sources claimed that the system violates standard Defense Department security protocols.
According to sources, Hegseth’s office now has a computer monitor that allows him to access the Signal app and text messages from his personal cellphone remotely. According to multiple sources, Hegseth used the system to check and respond to those messages from his desk.
The Associated Press previously reported that Hegseth used an unsecured internet connection, known as a “dirty line” among IT and cybersecurity professionals. The connection bypasses security protocols designed to protect against vulnerabilities that adversaries could exploit.
A Defense Department spokesperson denied the existence of a “dirty line,” as well as the current use of Signal inside Hegseth’s office.
According to the spokesperson, a physical line connects the defense secretary’s computer monitor to his cellphone, which is kept immediately outside his office. The monitor alerts him to messages, allowing him to check his phone. The official stated that it is currently set up as a one-way line.
The office suite is a sensitive compartmentalized information facility, or SCIF, and cellphones are not permitted.
According to two sources familiar with the situation, the workaround poses a security risk because it allows Hegseth to access his personal iPhone text messages and Signal chat groups at his desk despite the fact that his phone is not physically present.
They stated that it is not on the Defense Department’s Non-Secure Internet Protocol Router Network, also known as NIPR.
Hegseth, an Army veteran and former Fox News host, has come under fire this week after it was revealed that he shared details about impending US airstrikes in Yemen in a private Signal group he formed, which included his wife, brother, and personal attorney, both of whom work at the Pentagon but do not have a clear need to know such sensitive information. Hegseth shared the information during the second Signal group chat.
Marine Col. Ricky Buria, an aide in Hegseth’s office, helped organize an effort to resolve some internet connectivity issues in Hegseth’s office during the administration’s first days, according to two sources. According to the sources, Buria had some oversight over the work done to set up the Signal workaround.
The Defense Department did not respond to a request for information on Buria’s role.
Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging application, has a desktop app that communicates with a user’s mobile device via a unique QR code. Once paired, the desktop version mirrors the mobile phone version, allowing users to send and receive messages, manage contacts, and share media.
The sources spoke to CBS News on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.