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Woah! Hegseth's ' scrubbed ' connection
Washington D.C., 25 April - US Defense Chief, Pete Hegseth, whacked out a risky move by installing an open, non-secured line - dubbed a "dirty" connections, in his Pentagon office. This move did a number on his computer so he could surf the Signal messaging app. Two sources have confirmed this juicy bit of intel.
This spy-worthy twist follows a growing storm of controversy regarding Hegseth's sticky fingers with sensitive defense information and potential security breaches at the highest echelons of the Department of Defense.
(AP Associated Press)_ put a flame to this powderkeg, reporting that this unsecured connection pirouetted around Pentagon security hurdles, leaving sensitive data prone to spying or hacking threats.
Unlike the hard-hitting security walls the Pentagon usually puts up in its regular connections, this "dirty" line weaves straight to the unfiltered public internet without the protective barriers.
While these wacky connections have a quirky place in some Pentagon offices for specific monitoring tasks, using them screams caution since they pack a punch when it comes to security risks.
One plus? A mystery senior U.S. official cited that such a setup hides the user, dodging Pentagon IP address tracers. But, this cover might break the law's record-keeping mandate and thrust users into the same choppy waters as a regular, unsecured internet connection.
This pitted line was reportedly set up especially for Hegseth to tease the Signal app, which became hot potato once news surfaced about his revealing details about a sensitive Yemen airstrike on Houthi militants.
He had fun divulging sensitive information in two cozy chat groups: one included his wife and bro, and the other sparkled with President Donald Trump's top national security officials.
When Hegseth's Signal snafu cropped up, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell chucked out that the defense chief's "use of communication systems and channels is hush-hush."
However, Parnell did fess up that "the Secretary has never used and does not currently use Signal on his government computer," implying the app may have moonlighted through the personal device tangled with the dodgy network.
The Pentagon showers high-ranking cats like Hegseth with secure communication options, including the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network, the Secure Internet Protocol Router Network, and the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System.
Apparently, Hegseth kicked off with a Wi-Fi session in a Pentagon pantry before asking for a direct line on his desk for his precious personal computer.
This security bungle merely added sauce to the Pentagon's tumultuous stew, where Hegseth has already bumped off or rejiggered a bunch of close associates while facing probing questions about his info management skills from both political parties.
Despite these whispers of potential trouble, Trump and his mob continued backing Hegseth. Trump dismissed the allegations as "fake news," while VP JD Vance trumped up: "I've got a 100 per cent faith in the secretary."
Cyber security whizzes whacked their heads against the wall: despite Signal's encrypted messaging, it ain't approved for handling sensitive or classified information, thanks to its vulnerability to clever hacking attempts.
Theresa Payton, a former White House chief information officer under President George W. Bush, issued a stern warning. Governments officials' lines, she maintained, were prime targets for dirtbags like Russia and China. This year, the National Security Agency flagged up potential foreign cyberattacks on officials using Signal.
Now, the Department of Defense's acting inspector general is on a mission, grilling Hegseth's Signal shenanigans at the behest of the Senate Armed Services Committee's bipartisan honchos.
This lengthy investigation burrows into Hegseth pilfering data about the Yemen strike from a secure US Central Command channel and carelessly leaking info like launch times and bomb drop times before the jets made a safe landing.
Although Hegseth howled that he never leaked "war plans" or classified information, several current and former military and defense officials have attested that the operational details he spilled would have been classified claptrap and could have endangered our service folks.
- The Associated Press (AP) investigation connects Pentagon security issues with Defense Chief, Pete Hegseth, who has been accused of using non-secure connections, such as the one they call a "dirty" line, in his Pentagon office.
- This investigation reveals that the unsecured connection bypasses Pentagon security hurdles, putting sensitive data at risk of spying or hacking threats, in stark contrast to the usual security measures implemented in the Pentagon.
- While some Pentagon offices use such connections for specific monitoring tasks, the AP investigation vehemently warns of the potential security risks inherent in these unprotected lines, particularly given Hegseth's handling of sensitive defense information.
- The AP investigation further exposes that Hegseth's "dirty" line was set up to facilitate his use of the Signal messaging app, which is not approved for handling sensitive or classified information due to its vulnerability to hacking attempts.
- As a result, the Department of Defense's acting inspector general is currently conducting an investigation at the request of the Senate Armed Services Committee's bipartisan leaders, focusing on Hegseth's inappropriate use of the Signal app for sensitive Defense Department matters.
