John Kelly's Personal Phone Compromised
Officials fear foreign entities may have accessed White House chief of staff Kelly's phone while he was secretary of Homeland Security.
White House chief of staff John Kelly may have had his personal mobile phone compromised as long ago as December 2016, according to three US government officials, Politico reports.
Tech support staff at the White House found a potential breach after Kelly submitted his phone, claiming it hadn't been working properly for months and would not update software. Officials do not know the time or location of initial compromise, or the data that may been accessed. After their review, they concluded the phone should not be used due to a potential breach.
Kelly had reportedly avoided using his personal phone since joining the White House in January, instead relying on his government-issued phone for official communication. His travel prior to January is under review. Kelly has begun using a different phone but uses his government phone inside the White House, according to the report.
The discovery of a potential breach has sparked concern that hackers or foreign governments may have been able to access information on Kelly's phone during his term as secretary of Homeland Security and after he joined the White House.
Read more details here.
Join Dark Reading LIVE for two days of practical cyber defense discussions. Learn from the industry’s most knowledgeable IT security experts. Check out the INsecurity agenda here.
About the Author
You May Also Like
DevSecOps/AWS
Oct 17, 2024Social Engineering: New Tricks, New Threats, New Defenses
Oct 23, 202410 Emerging Vulnerabilities Every Enterprise Should Know
Oct 30, 2024Simplify Data Security with Automation
Oct 31, 2024