A recent hack of the messaging app TeleMessage exposed messages from over 60 U.S. government officials, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. The platform was taken offline as investigations continue, with key figures and the company remaining silent.
A hacker who broke into the messaging platform TeleMessage earlier this month accessed communications from a wider range of U.S. government officials than previously known. The platform had been used by U.S. President Donald Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz and various federal agencies.
According to data reviewed by Reuters, the breach exposed messages from more than 60 government users, including disaster response teams, customs officials, diplomats, a White House staffer, and members of the Secret Service. The leaked messages, which covered roughly a one-day period, were shared by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a nonprofit that publishes hacked materials in the public interest.
While many of the messages were fragmentary, some referenced government travel plans, including visits to the Vatican and Jordan. Reuters was unable to verify the full contents of the leak but confirmed several phone numbers and message recipients, including applicants for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a financial services firm.
The breach gained public attention after Waltz was photographed using TeleMessage’s version of the encrypted app Signal during a cabinet meeting on April 30. Waltz had previously drawn headlines for mistakenly adding a journalist to a Signal chat where cabinet officials were discussing airstrikes in Yemen. He was later removed from his role, although Trump nominated him to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Experts say that even if no secret info was leaked, the data about who talked to whom and when could still help foreign spies.
U.S. government agencies reacted cautiously. The White House acknowledged the incident but offered no further comment. The United States Secret Service said a limited number of its employees used the app and that the matter is under review. FEMA said it had no evidence that its data was compromised. U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed it had disabled the platform and launched an investigation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated it tested the app in 2024 but ultimately chose not to adopt it.
TeleMessage is operated by the Oregon-based company Smarsh. The service was taken offline on May 5 "out of an abundance of caution." The full extent of the breach and officials like Waltz’s use of the platform remain unclear. Neither the company, Waltz, nor the White House have responded to inquiries.
Nvidia has launched an independent investigation into whether its chief executive, Jensen Huang, was targeted in a foreign intelligence operat...
More than 700 primary healthcare facilities in Afghanistan have closed since 2025 following cuts to international aid, a senior UN official has war...
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to host Qatar’s prime minister at the White House on Monday as efforts to end the conflict with Iran stall...
Poland has declared two days of national mourning after a gunman opened fire in Kraków's historic main square. Investigators are examining possible far-right influences and the discovery of three bodies at the suspect's home.
Monday marks the second of two days of national mourning in Poland as police bolstered security after six people were killed in a mass shooting in Kraków.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-aligned group towards Riyadh on Sunday (8 November), after loud booms were heard in the Saudi capital. The Aramco building was damaged by falling debris.
Azerbaijan is marking the sixth anniversary of Victory Day on Sunday, 8 November, with President Ilham Aliyev visiting the Victory Monument in Khankendi, laying a wreath and paying tribute to servicemen killed during the 44-day Second Garabagh War in 2020.
The gunman who allegedly killed six people in Poland’s unprecedented mass shooting in central Kraków on Saturday has died in hospital, police said early Monday. The attacker had demonstrated advanced military-style marksmanship skills, according to a spokesperson for the shooting club he attended.
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to host Qatar’s prime minister at the White House on Monday as efforts to end the conflict with Iran stall, with Washington and Tehran still far apart on the terms of a possible agreement.
Pope Leo XIV has urged Argentina’s leaders to strengthen democracy, fight corruption and put people before economic interests in his first official address in the country.
A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire at Russia's second-largest oil refinery overnight, while Moscow reported strikes on Ukrainian power facilities and a Black Sea cargo vessel. The attacks came ahead of U.S.-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for the 9th of November 2026. From a spy investigation shaking Silicon Valley to rising geopolitical tensions, these are the five stories you need to know today.
A passport application might seem an ordinary administrative request. For Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's ousted prime minister, it could mark the beginning of one of the country's most consequential political homecomings.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment