The amid government scandal between US and Yemen spikes Signal downloads
Over the past week, there has been some unexpected attention to the encrypted messaging app Signal. The confrontation started with the leaking of a highly sensitive discussion by US officials on Signal. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth from Trump’s administration have talked about attacking the Yemeni Houthis using an unauthorized group chat on Signal.
Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a chat group of Trump’s administration and published the highly sensitive chat on Signal.
The story broke down and gave a record boost for Signal downloads on both platforms: App Store and Play Store. The downloads average percentage increased up to 28% within 30 days, per app intelligence firm Appfigures. Exclusively, in the U.S., the downloads were 45%, and in Yemen, it goes to 42%, as the Signal app comes ranked No. 9, which was ranked No. 50 before the scandal started among the social media apps of Yemen.
Signal is a popular encrypted app that offers fool-proof security where not even a Signal employer can access the chats of users through the platform. However, it is only an encrypted app and not an ironclad depository to protect highly official information. But, it is also true that the huge disaster was done by the user who unintentionally added a journalist to this unauthorized U.S. chat group, which caused this leakage issue.
On the other hand, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mr. Hegseth has denied any type of such discussion on Signal, but the messages published by Atlantic show how Hegseth is providing related details, i.e., attack timing, weapons, and aircraft to use. According to government officials, an investigation is in progress to determine the reasons for this monumental security failure.
