Signal's popularity has skyrocketed amid the scandal over the leak of US military plans

This week, attention to the encrypted messaging app Signal has increased dramatically. The number of downloads has increased significantly, including in the United States and Yemen, after information leaked about the preparation of an American strike against the Houthis. The US government continues to investigate this security failure. This is reported by UNN with reference to TechCrunch.

Context

Senior officials in the Trump administration, including Vice President Jay Dee Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, reported plans to attack the Yemeni Houthis via an unauthorized group chat on Signal. The editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, accidentally ended up in the chat, having been added there by mistake. Taking advantage of the delicate information about US military plans, Goldberg published them on Monday.

Although Hegseth stated that the US "military plans" were not discussed in the Signal chat, The Atlantic published messages showing that Hegseth himself provided details about the timing of the attacks, as well as the weapons and aircraft that would be used.

As of Thursday, the US government continues to investigate this security failure of its government.

The Signal program itself did not malfunction or malfunction. It was purely human error to add a journalist to a secret chat, and US government security protocols were able to prevent it, TechCrunch noted, adding that Signal did not respond to their request for comment.

Community reaction

When The Atlantic story broke on Monday, global downloads of Signal on iOS and Google Play increased by 28% compared to the average daily figure over the past 30 days, according to analytics firm Appfigures. In the US, downloads increased by 45% on Monday, and in Yemen - by 42%. Prior to the scandal, Signal ranked 50th among social media apps in Yemen, but on Monday it rose to 9th place.

Reference

All communications in Signal are encrypted, meaning that only people in the chat can see the messages. Even people who work at Signal can't know what users are talking about.

Earlier, UNN wrote that the court ordered the Trump administration to preserve messages in Signal after the incident with the leak of information about the strike on the Houthis. Human rights activists are demanding an investigation into possible violations.