LONDON (AP) — A magazine journalist's account of being added to a group chat of U.S. national security officials coordinating plans for airstrikes has raised questions about how highly sensitive information is supposed to be handled.
Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg detailed a discussion that happened over the Signal messaging app hours before strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The National Security Council has since said the text chain “appears to be authentic" and that it is looking into how a journalist’s number was added to the chain.
Here's a look at the app in question.
It's an app that can be used for direct messaging and group chats as well as phone and video calls.
Signal uses end-to-end encryption for its messaging and calling services that prevents any third-party from viewing conversation content or listening in on calls.
In other words, messages and calls sent on Signal are scrambled and only the sender and recipient at each end will have the key to decipher them.
Signal's encryption protocol is open source, meaning that it's freely available for anyone to inspect, use or modify. The encryption protocol is also used by another popular chat service, social media company Meta's WhatsApp platform.
Encryption on Signal is turned on by default, unlike another popular messaging app, Telegram, which requires users to turn it on and does not make it available for group chats.
Signal has features that are found on other messaging apps. It allows users to host group chats with up to 1,000 people and messages can be set to automatically disappear after a certain time.
Signal touts the privacy of its service and its head defended the app's security practices on Tuesday.
“Signal is the gold standard in private comms,” Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal, said on X, without directly addressing the Atlantic report.
Experts agree Signal is more secure than conventional texting.
But it could be hacked.
Government officials have used Signal for organizational correspondence, such as scheduling sensitive meetings, but in the Biden administration, people who had permission to download it on their White House-issued phones were instructed to use the app sparingly, according to a former national security official who served in the administration.
The official, who requested anonymity to speak about methods used to share sensitive information, said Signal was most commonly used to notify someone that they should check for a classified message sent through other means.
Beyond concerns about security, Signal and other similar apps may allow users to skirt open records laws. Without special archiving software, the messages frequently aren’t returned under public information requests.
In the Atlantic article, Goldberg wrote that some messages were set to disappear after one week and some after four.
Encrypted messaging apps are increasingly popular with government officials, according to a recent Associated Press review.
State, local and federal officials in nearly every state have accounts on encrypted messaging apps, according to the review, which found many of those accounts registered to government cellphone numbers. Some were also registered to personal numbers.
The app's origins date back more than a decade, when it was set up by an entrepreneur who goes by the name Moxie Marlinspike, who was briefly head of product security at Twitter after he sold his mobile security startup to the social media company. Marlinspike merged two existing open source apps, one for texting and one for voice calls, to create Signal.
The nonprofit Signal Foundation was set up in 2018 to support the app's operations as well as “investigate the future of private communication,” according to the foundation's website. The foundation says it is a nonprofit “with no advertisers or investors, sustained only by the people who use and value it.”
The foundation's board has five members, including Brian Acton, who cofounded WhatsApp and donated $50 million to set up the foundation.
Associated Press writers Tara Copp, Aamer Madhani and Eric Tucker contributed to this report from Washington.
FILE - An image of the Signal app is shown on a mobile phone in San Francisco, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, file)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New York Giants owner John Mara got a season-ending gift from his team three months into his cancer treatment.
Mara got a game ball in an emotional locker room scene after the Giants beat the rival Dallas Cowboys 34-17 on Sunday to finish their lost season on a two-game winning streak.
"He mentioned he’s jogging to his treatments now because of this," said tight end Daniel Bellinger, who had a 29-yard touchdown catch. “He’s got to be the toughest guy in the locker room, regardless of what everybody else is going through. He’s resilient as a guy, and we respect him as our leader, our owner.”
Beating Dallas and other results around the NFL took the Giants (4-13) out of the running for a top-two pick and clinched No. 1 for Las Vegas, a week after routing the Raiders to end a nine-game skid. Shuffling back in the draft order had some fans rooting for New York to lose, but two more TD passes by rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart showed why there's so much organizational optimism about the future, no matter who is coaching.
"Jaxson Dart’s going to be here — he’ll be here for a long time," veteran receiver Darius Slayton said. "He’s talented. He’s young. I think any coach that would come here would be wise to invest in him and try to bring him along because he has all the potential in the world.
Dart has said he cares more about winning than draft position and played like it in his 12th professional start. He was 22 of 32 for 231 yards with his 14th and 15th career touchdown passes, to Bellinger and Tyrone Tracy.
While the Giants were shorthanded because of injuries and illnesses, they treated this like any other game with their starters going the distance. Dallas (7-9-1) took it more like an exhibition game, including Dak Prescott exiting after halftime.
Prescott completed seven of 11 passes for 70 yards and lost a fumble off a botched snap before being replaced at quarterback by Joe Milton to begin the third quarter.
“The destination is not the end goal," said Prescott, who finished the season with 4,552 yards passing, the second most of his decade-long career behind only 4,902 in 2019. “It’s one of the first seasons where I can’t directly correlate my play to the wins or loses. That makes it frustrating.”
Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah each rushed for their first NFL touchdowns for the Cowboys, who lost to the Giants for the first time since the 2020 season finale on Jan. 3, 2021. They had won nine consecutive meetings and Prescott had won 14 in a row as the starter, and this loss again came with embattled defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' unit allowing 30-plus points.
“You've got to get off the field on third down,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do that, plus we gave up some explosives in the run game. The last couple of weeks have been better, but those are big momentum plays where you have a chance to get the ball back to the offense.”
After the Dart-to-Tracy TD connection early in the third quarter, tempers flared between lineman on both sides. New York guard Greg Van Roten held on to Sam Williams' facemask, and Dallas' Donovan Ezeiruaku followed suit and then some as flags flew.
Ezeiruaku ripped Van Roten's helmet off and was ejected. The Giants made the ensuing 2-point conversion, giving kicker Ben Sauls a breather during a game in which he made all four of his field goal attempts.
Cowboys: S Markquese Bell was ruled out before halftime with a concussion. ... S Alijah Clark was a late scratch for personal reasons.
Giants: LB Darius Muasau left with an ankle injury in the third quarter. ... CB Rico Payton was evaluated for a concussion.
Cowboys: Schottenheimer is expected to return for a second season, though Eberflus and other assistants could be gone.
Giants: A coaching search is in the offing, with the question of whether general manager Joe Schoen will oversee it.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) passes under pressure against the New York Giants during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Officials through flags during an altercation on the field between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys during the third quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) celebrates with quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) and guard Greg van Roten (74) after scoring a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) and quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) celebrate after a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys during the third quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) passes the ball against the Dallas Cowboys during the first quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
