How safe is Signal messaging app used by Trump aides to share war plans?

Under US law, it can be a crime to mishandle, misuse or abuse classified information, though it is unclear whether those provisions might have been violated in this case.

Below are some of the main facts about Signal:

How safe is it?

Signal is an open-source and fully encrypted messaging service that runs on centralised servers maintained by Signal Messenger.

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The only user data it stores on its servers are phone numbers, the date a user joined the service, and the last login information.

Users' contacts, chats and other communications are instead stored on the user's phone, with the possibility of setting the option to automatically delete conversations after a certain amount of time.

The company uses no ads or affiliate marketers, and doesn't track users' data, as stated on its website.

Signal also gives users the possibility to hide their phone number from others and use an additional safety number to verify the safety of their messages, it adds.

Signal does not use US government encryption or that of any other governments, and is not hosted on government servers.

The messaging app has a «stellar reputation and is widely used and trusted in the security community», said Rocky Cole, whose cybersecurity firm iVerify helps protect smartphone users from hackers.

«The risk of discussing highly sensitive national security information on Signal isn't so much that Signal itself is insecure,» Cole added.

Actors who pose threats to nation states, he said, «have a demonstrated ability to remotely