Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told House Intelligence Committee members Wednesday that the encrypted messaging app Signal is “pre-installed” on government devices.
Gabbard cited guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued in December, which advised “highly targeted individuals,” including government personnel, to use only end-to-end encrypted communications. “They named Signal as an app as an example of such an end-to-end encrypted messaging app,” Gabbard said during the committee’s annual worldwide threats hearing.
Her remarks came a day after CIA Director John Ratcliffe testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Signal was uploaded to his CIA devices within days of his confirmation.
CISA’s guidance followed last year’s major breach of U.S. telecommunications providers by Chinese hacking group Salt Typhoon, which enabled hackers to tap into the phones of top U.S. officials, including President Trump and JD Vance.
