The Application Trump Adviser Used Temporarily Stops Service After Hacking

Mike Waltz is using TeleMessage (photo: x @PatronKulubu)

JAKARTA The communications app used by US President Donald Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz on Monday announced that they were suspending all of its services. This was done following a hacking report that leaked a number of user messages.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that customs authorities had disabled the application from their devices as a precaution.

Smarsh, a company based in Portland, Oregon and manages the TeleMessage app, said in an email that it was investigating possible security incidents and suspending all services due to high caution.

Smarsh has not provided further responses to requests for information regarding the security breach. DHS said in an email that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had immediately disabled the Message Tele as a precautionary measure.

"Investigations regarding the extent to which violations occurred are still ongoing," continued the DHS statement.

A photo from Reuters shows Mike Waltz using the TeleMessage, an unofficial version of Signal's popular encrypted messaging app, attending a cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday 30 April.

Waltz was dismissed from office the next day, after weeks of controversial the formation of the Signal group to share real-time updates to US military action in Yemen.

The chat group is in the public spotlight after Waltz, or someone who used his account, accidentally added a well-known journalist to the group.

Concerns over Waltz's communications security have escalated after on Sunday 4 April, it was reported that a hacker managed to break into TeleMessage's backend infrastructure and intercept user messages.

Technology news site 404 Media revealed that hackers had provided them with stolen material, some of which were successfully independently verified by the media.