Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, had an unsecured internet connection set up in his Pentagon office so that he could bypass government security protocols and use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, two people familiar with the line told the Associated Press.
ABC News also reported that Hegseth had what is known as a “dirty line” – what IT professionals call a commercial internet line that is used to connect to websites blocked by the Pentagon’s unclassified and classified lines. Defense department computers connect to the internet through two different systems: SiprNet – or secure internet protocol router network, which is the Pentagon’s network for classified information – and NiprNet – the non-classified internet protocol router network, which handles unclassified information.
The fact that Hegseth was evading Pentagon security filters to connect to the internet this way raises the possibility that sensitive defense information could have been put at risk of potential hacking or surveillance.
Sources told the AP that at times there were three computers around Hegseth’s desk – a personal computer; another for classified information; and a third for sensitive defense information. Because electronic devices are vulnerable to spyware, no one is supposed to have them inside the defense secretary’s office.
The latest reporting continues a pattern of leaks about Hegseth’s use of Signal to text sensitive military information to a circle of family and friends. On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that Hegseth, a former Fox weekend anchor, directed the installation of Signal on a desktop computer in his Pentagon office.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, told news outlets: “We can confirm that the secretary has never used and does not currently use Signal on his government computer.”
Earlier this week, the Guardian confirmed a New York Times report that Hegseth had shared sensitive operational information about strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen on a private Signal group chat he set up himself to communicate with his wife, brother, personal lawyer and nine associates.
In 2016, when it was reported that Hillary Clinton used a private email server to conduct official business when she was secretary of state, Hegseth told Fox News that “any security professional – military, government or otherwise – would be fired on the spot for this type of conduct, and criminally prosecuted. The fact that she wouldn’t be held accountable for this, I think blows the mind of anyone who’s held our secrets dear, who’s had a top secret clearance, like I have.”
