Trump advisors' personal data leaked, sparking security fears
Private data of key advisors to U.S. President Donald Trump, including phone numbers and email addresses, have been made available on the internet, according to a report by "Spiegel" magazine. German media are concerned that this leak could seriously threaten national security.
What do you need to know?
- Private data of advisors to U.S. President Donald Trump have been leaked on the internet - reported by "Spiegel".
- National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are among those affected by the data leak.
- Publicly accessible data could be exploited by hostile intelligence services to hack these individuals' communications.
What data from the U.S. leaked?
The German magazine "Spiegel" reported that the private contact details of key advisors to U.S. President Donald Trump, such as cell phone numbers and email addresses, have been exposed on the internet. In some cases, passwords were also disclosed.
Data of Trump's advisors leaked with serious consequences
As analyzed by Spiegel, Gabbard, Hegseth, and Waltz's contact details were found partly in commercial databases and partly in so-called password leaks, which the report said are not uncommon on the Internet.
The German weekly's website indicated that most of the publicly available phone numbers and email addresses are likely still in use. Some of them are linked to profiles on Instagram and LinkedIn. This means that with knowledge of the phone numbers, one could also find profiles on WhatsApp and occasionally accounts on the Signal messenger.
The German magazine emphasized that this data leak could pose a significant threat to U.S. national security. Hostile intelligence services could exploit publicly available data to hack these individuals' communications by infecting their devices with spyware.
"Spiegel" did not disclose the data
To protect the privacy of American politicians, "Spiegel" did not publish the phone numbers, email addresses, or discovered passwords.
The editorial team informed Gabbard, Hegseth, and Waltz about the findings of the journalistic investigation. "Spiegel" emphasized that no tests were conducted to verify whether the email passwords are still functional.
