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The Secret Service left themselves vulnerable to hacking due to issues with both official and personal devices, a government watchdog found in a report ordered after the assassination attempt on President Trump’s life in Butler, Pa.
The report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that agents routinely relied on their personal phones for official business due to clunky communication software on official phones.
“This heightened risk occurred because the Secret Service’s process for identifying and implementing mobile device capabilities did not always fully identify employees’ operational needs, leaving employees without essential capabilities such that they resorted to using personal devices,” the report wrote.
“As a result, adversaries could have intercepted and exploited Secret Service information, placing at risk our Nation’s leaders, other protectees, and employees — especially when unsecured devices were used overseas.”
OIG said the report was sparked in part by its broader review of the Butler shooting, where agents had used personal phones to coordinate with local law enforcement. That included a whistleblower complaint highlighting agents routinely using their own devices to communicate.
Secret Service employees are not supposed to use their personal devices for work, but one agent said they used their phone to receive a photo from a local police officer who flagged shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks as suspicious, with the agent saying they felt forced to use their personal device as their government phone was unable to receive photos.
Many agents said they did the same when overseas, as work-issued phones struggled to communicate with local counterparts.
“When employees use their personal devices for mission operations, it places at risk the Secret Service’s communications, personnel, and protectees. The Secret Service does not secure or manage employees’ personal devices and therefore cannot ensure their security. If a personal device is jailbroken,15 infected with malicious code, or not up to date on security software, an adversary could intercept device communication,” the report states.
“Outdated and vulnerable apps could enable malicious actors to conduct surveillance, track locations, or record employees’ communications.”
It’s also a violation of public records laws, which require the preservation of all government communications.
The Secret Service agreed with all of the recommendations in the report and said it has already begun to implement numerous tech changes.
An official with the agency also told The Hill that Secret Service phones now have approved commercial messages platforms like WhatsApp and Signal.
The agency, Director Sean Curran wrote, has “consequently made several comprehensive enhancements to Secret Service communications policies and protocols to both mitigate the potential for adversaries to intercept and exploit Secret Service information.”
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