Top Trump administration officials inadvertently shared war plans with a journalist on the encrypted messaging app Signal, sparking demands from Democratic lawmakers for a congressional probe into the security breach. 

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A journalist was mistakenly added to the group chat, where he witnessed sensitive discussions about military operations in Yemen.

The incident has raised concerns about the administration's handling of classified information and the potential risks of using commercial messaging apps for sensitive communications. 

How safe is Signal?

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Signal is an open-source messaging platform that utilizes end-to-end encryption, with its infrastructure supported by centralized servers operated by Signal Messenger.

The application's servers only store minimal user data, like phone numbers, the date of account creation, and the most recent login information.

The chats and contacts of the user are instead stored on the person's mobile phone, with an additional setting of automatically deleting conversations after a certain time period.

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According to the company website, it does not use ads or affiliate marketers or track the users' data.

Signal also gives the users an option to hide their phone numbers from others and instead use an additional safety number to verify the safety of their messages.

The application is not hosted on government servers and does not use US government encryption or that of any other government.

The messaging app has a "stellar reputation and is widely used and trusted in the security community", said Rocky Cole, whose cybersecurity firm iVerify helps protect smartphone users from hackers.

"The risk of discussing highly sensitive national security information on Signal isn't so much that Signal itself is insecure,” Cole added, according to news agency Reuters.

Actors who pose threats to nation states, he said, "have a demonstrated ability to remotely compromise the entire mobile phone itself. If the phone itself isn't secure, all the Signal messages on that device can be read."
 
(With inputs from agencies)