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Government Security Cellphones Privacy

White House Chief of Staff's Phone Was Reportedly Hacked Months Ago (reuters.com) 138

Posted by BeauHD from the remote-access dept.
93 Escort Wagon writes: The personal cellphone belonging to Trump's Chief of Staff, John Kelly, may have been compromised, Reuters reports in a story originating from Politico. This may have happened as early as last December. The issue was discovered when Kelly submitted the phone to the White House's tech support crew during the summer, complaining that the phone would not update correctly.
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White House Chief of Staff's Phone Was Reportedly Hacked Months Ago More

White House Chief of Staff's Phone Was Reportedly Hacked Months Ago

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  • I don't own a cell phone (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    So I can't be hacked through my cell phone.

    If somebody really thinks they need to contact me, they can send me an e-mail and I might respond when I feel like it - or I might not, for any reason I chose.

  • What a MORON!
    What was he thinking!

    Time for a congressional investigation.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      What a MORON!
      What was he thinking!
      Time for a congressional investigation.

      He wasn't thinking. Yes it should be a crime, especially for someone with DHS background. What scares me is it means there are a lot more morons like him. The quickest way to mobilize and empower the morons is, unfortunately, a congressional investigation. Most of congress are morons.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Anonymous Coward

      So not just committing a hack is illegal, but getting hacked is illegal and the victim should be prosecuted? Yikes!

      Anyway... personal phone hacked... government business conducted on government issued phone (as far as we know) which is secure insomuch as possible (as far as we know)... yawn. Re-post the story when it is found that he was conducting government business via his personal phone and then I'll be interested.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        His phone - that device with a microphone and camera that he has with him wherever he goes (other than possibly while he is actually in the White House) - was hacked - possibly fully owned. It has to be assumed that every conversation he had in the presence of his phone was compromised. These people talk secret stuff all over the place.

        But, the even bigger issue is that they could easily have picked up personal details that could be used in blackmail. You now have no clue whether he is still compromised eve

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Not a lot to see or hear in the box they put them in when the enter the building.
          Of course, I wonder how long they trolled the listeners after they discovered it...

  • Read TFA (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 06, 2017 @08:38PM (#55325561)

    Military dude has two phones: personal and official. Personal phone got hacked. Not hard. Dude does all his professional work on this official, hardened phone. No crime. Not inept. No real story. Everyone attacking him needs to read the story and act like adults.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      People at this level are routinely asked to give up their personal phones and use secure ones. It is simply too much to ask a person to never forget which phone they are on and not even hint at something confidential in a conversation. Ignorance of having committed a crime is not an excuse. Intent is almost irrelevant today.

      For that matter, this man's location alone should be confidential. He doesn't have to say a word to be giving confidential information. A hack of a smartphone could be used for many purp

    • Re:Read TFA (Score:4, Insightful)

      by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Friday October 06, 2017 @10:46PM (#55325957)

      Military dude has two phones: personal and official.

      If this happened in December, he did not have an official phone at that time.

    • So when they turn on the microphone they somehow automagically can't hear at least his half of the conversations on the hardened phone, or all sides of in person meetings? I mean WTF they are just now banning personal phones in the west wing [talkingpointsmemo.com]??!? Explain to me how he isn't a moron when you can't walk into half the companies in the US with one, but what the hell, why not have them in national security meetings.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by yuriklastalov ( 4536597 )

      You can pry my Trump Derangement Syndrome from my cold, dead hands.

  • So he doesn't use the phone much but we don't know whether the hackers could listen in when he was carrying it - let's hope a proper analysis of it has been done. I wonder whose malware it was.

    Did he ever use it for official business? The statement didn't categorically deny it. Fingers crossed he doesn't go in for mistresses, insider trading, rent boys, coke deals or any other compromising activities (or if he does, at least uses a burner phone).

  • Can't walk into half the companies in America that have valuable IP with a cellphone, but what the hell lets just have personal cellphones in national security meetings. Let's hope they couldn't access the microphone or they could easily have picked up half the conversations on his secure phone as well as any interpersonal communications, and if they had gps data as well could track his every move. It's pretty likely we will never be told who hacked it, or how extensive it was.

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