The signal is approved by the Swedish Defense Forces – up to a certain secrecy level. Not the highest levels, according to Jörgen Holmlund, teacher in intelligence analysis at the Defense University.
Now, the USA has its own classification rules, but it would surprise me if these events are approved to discuss in an encrypted app.
That a "broad range of people" discuss attack plans in an app is at least remarkable, thinks Holmlund. Normally, similar cases are handled at respective departments, where, for example, consequences for foreign policy and national security are discussed and evaluated.
This does not happen through a single minister giving a thumbs-up in an app, so to speak, says Holmlund.
Hegseth sitting loose?
He compares it to the email scandal surrounding Hillary Clinton, who in 2015 was revealed to have used her private email address during her time as Foreign Minister under Barack Obama. President Donald Trump has claimed that Clinton should be in prison for the security risk she exposed the USA to.
This is exactly the same thing and in a similarly sensitive operational situation. It may be smaller in scope, but more serious in how sensitive information has been handled, says Holmlund.
It is difficult to assess what is happening now, he notes. But from a Swedish or European context, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth would likely be sitting loose.
I think it's a cabinet issue whether he can stay or not, says Holmlund.
There may be more
Besides Hegseth, others involved in the Signal conversation included, among others, US Vice President JD Vance, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and CIA Chief John Ratcliffe – and for some reason, The Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg. Only a week after the attacks on Yemen did the magazine publish an account of the chat's content.
This journalist has been more careful to protect the protected than the senders have been, notes Holmlund.
The question is also how much other sensitive information has been shared in the same way.
If they share war information in this app – and express themselves freely to the right and left about their views on Europeans and others – then one is tempted to believe that they have felt safe with their little network of trusted boys.
Which means that there is certainly more in similar chats – perhaps of an even more piquant character.
Signal is an encrypted messaging platform founded in 2014.
The content can, thanks to "end-to-end" encryption, neither be read by the operator nor by a third party.
In Sweden, the use of Signal has grown. In February, the Defense Forces urged their employees to use the app as much as possible for conversations and SMS that do not concern security-classified information.
Earlier this year, the government announced that they want to force Signal to introduce a "technical backdoor" to give the police and Säpo access to message history for suspected criminals. Signal's CEO responded that they will leave the Swedish market if they are forced to break the encryption.
