Click Here Mic Drop: Encrypted-ish: The problems with a Signal knockoff
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May 16, 2025 Micah Lee, an information security engineer and investigative journalist renowned for his expertise in privacy and cryptography, dives into the alarming security issues behind the TMSGNL messaging app. Highlighting a viral photo of Mike Waltz during a Cabinet meeting, he discusses the implications of using flawed messaging services for sensitive government communications. Lee emphasizes the risk of backdoors and security vulnerabilities, urging a reevaluation of encrypted messaging practices to safeguard national security.
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Waltz's Phone App Exposed
- Mike Waltz was photographed using the TMSGNL app during a Cabinet meeting, exposing his messaging habits.
- Micah Lee first noticed this on social media and found the app suspiciously similar to Signal.
TMSGNL Archives Messages
- TMSGNL is a Signal-like app altered to archive messages for compliance purposes.
- Unlike Signal, TMSGNL is not publicly downloadable and meant for government or corporate use.
Hacker Finds Major Vulnerability
- A hacker found and shared TMSGNL's open source code and discovered a catastrophic vulnerability in the app's server.
- This vulnerability allowed extraction of sensitive memory dumps containing usernames and passwords.