US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth definitely broke the rules when he sent sensitive information to a Signal chat group, say Pentagon auditors, but he's not the only one using insecure messaging, and everyone needs better training. The Pentagon Office of Inspector General on Thursday released two reports, one specifically dealing with the "Signalgate" incident, and a second that found Hegseth's massive OPSEC failure was just the latest in a long line of similar failures among DoD employees with regard to the use of improper methods of communication.
The 84-page report concludes that Hegseth's decision to share highly sensitive military plans on the commercially available encrypted messaging app, using his personal cell phone, could have jeopardized the safety of American servicemembers and the mission. "The Secretary sent nonpublic DoD information identifying the quantity and strike times of manned U.S. aircraft over hostile territory over an unapproved, unsecure network approximately 2 to 4 hours before the execution of those strikes," according to the report.