Signal uses end-to-end encryption and is available for free via digital app stores. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The CISA guidance specifically cited that government officials should download "end-to-end encrypted communications" platforms to their cellphones and computers, specifically citing Signal as an app to download to comply with the best practices.
President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington on Feb. 28, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"CISA is releasing this best practice guidance to promote protections for mobile communications from exploitation by PRC-affiliated and other malicious cyber threat actors," the CISA guidance states, referring to the Chinese cyber breach in 2024.
Fox News Digital reached out to CISA for additional comment or information on the use of Signal among government employees, but did not immediately receive a reply.
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The guidance was released months before the Trump administration came under fire from Democrats and other critics after it was revealed top national security officials discussed a planned strike in Yemen against terrorist forces in a Signal group chat that also included the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic.
The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg published a first-hand account on Monday of what he read in the Signal group chat, called "Houthi PC Small Group," after he was added to the chain on March 13 alongside high-ranking federal officials stretching from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to national security advisor Mike Waltz and Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles.
The Atlantic's report set off condemnation among Democratic lawmakers, who have slammed the Trump administration for risking national security by using an app to communicate about a planned attack on Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
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President Trump and former President Biden (Win McNamee/Pool via Reuters | Getty Images)
"One of the first things that happened when I was confirmed as CIA director was Signal was loaded onto my computer at, the CIA, as it is for most CIA officers, one of the things that I was briefed on very early, Senator, was by the CIA records management folks about the use of Signal as a permissible work use," he said.
"It is, that is a practice that preceded the current administration to the Biden administration," he continued.
A former Biden national security official confirmed to the Associated Press that the previous administration used Signal if a staffer was granted permission to download the app on their White House-administered phones. The staffers, however, were told to use it sparingly, according to the report.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on March 7, 2025. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"It is my understanding that the Biden administration authorized Signal as a means of communication that was consistent with presidential recordkeeping requirements for its administration, and that continued into the Trump administration," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said during an appearance on "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday morning.
A Department of Defense memo from 2023 under the Biden administration detailed that while Signal was approved for some use by government officials, they could not use the platform to "access, transmit, process non-public DoD information." CISA's guidance related to Signal was released after the Department of Defense guidance.
The Trump administration has defended the group chat, saying it did not include sensitive information, and that the Atlantic's story "is nothing more than a section of the NatSec establishment community running the same, tired gameplay from years past."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted to X on Tuesday that "no classified material was sent to the thread" and that "no ‘war plans’ were discussed."
White House communications director Steven Cheung slammed the Atlantic's coverage in an X post on Tuesday afternoon as an example of "anti-Trump forces" trying to "peddle misinformation."
"From the 'Russia, Russia, Russia' hoax of the first term to the fake documents case of the last four years… at every turn anti-Trump forces have tried to weaponize innocuous actions and turn them into faux outrage that Fake News outlets can use to peddle misinformation," Cheung posted to X.
Trump told NBC News on Tuesday that a staffer in Waltz's office included the journalist in the high-profile group chat, but did not reveal the staffer's identity or if the individual would face disciplinary action.
"It was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number on there," Trump told NBC News in a phone interview when asked how Goldberg was added to the high-profile chat.
Trump defended Waltz in comment to Fox News earlier on Tuesday, as well as during his NBC interview.
"He’s not getting fired," Trump told Fox News of Waltz. The president said the incident was a "mistake," though there was "nothing important" in the Signal text thread.
"Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man," Trump said in the NBC interview.
The president added that Goldberg's inclusion in the group chat had "no impact at all" on the strike in Yemen.
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The Signal group text leak comes roughly 10 years after news broke that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a private email server for official government correspondence.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for additional comment on the Signal chat leak, but did not immediately receive a reply.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-era-guidance-encouraged-use-signal-app-highly-targeted-govt-officials-best-practice