White House staff members are using a 'secure' app that's really not so secure

[HAB911]

A number of senior White House officials, including press secretary Sean Spicer, have at one point downloaded the Confide messaging app that touts "military-grade encryption," allowing users to secretly and securely message one another. But it may be a great deal less secure than they think.

Cybersecurity experts warn that the Confide app, which boasts a feature that deletes messages as soon as they are read, is rife with security concerns. It also raises questions about whether senior members of the White House should be using an app that purposely deletes their conversations, potentially flouting rules requiring that they keep an accurate record of communications within the White House. The use of the app by government officials was first reported by Axios.

BuzzFeed News found the phone numbers of Spicer, along with Hope Hicks, the director of strategic communications, via a feature that allows users to see friends who have already joined.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/17/white-house-staff-members-are-using-a-secure-app-thats-really-not-so-secure.html

[MineralMan]

1. Hilarious. Given the lack of concern for security of

most app designers, why would anyone trust this Confide app? As far as you know, those messages could be sent to the cloud and stored without you knowing about it.

How can they be so naive?

[HAB911]

4. I have yet to see anyone accuse any

of his crew of being anything but naive and technologically stupid, ref: using their phone lights to read classified docs

[MineralMan]

6. That's quite true, as well.

[Eyeball_Kid]

5. Most encryption apps have "back door" accessibility. It takes awhile to decode, but it's done.

[dalton99a]

2. So who is behind this wonderful app? Russians?

[Eyeball_Kid]

3. Hacked cell phones can be manipulated remotely to listen to and record audio and video.

And these knuckleheads, including Trumpy, are using unsecured cell phones???

[2naSalit]

7. Even we

lowly GS employees have to take FISSA training and get certified before we can go beyond the first week at our jobs! In this training it is repeatedly stated that we cannot destroy any official documents and especially anything pertaining to any legal case, potential or pending.