President Donald Trump may still beusing an unsecure Android smartphone, much to the chagrin of security professionals and at least one congressman, who is now calling for an investigation into the President’s devices and cybersecurity practices.
The call comes from California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu, who sent a letter to the House Oversight Committee accusing the President of having a “reckless disregard for cybersecurity.”
The letter, signed by 14 Democratic members of Congress, requests Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings begin to hold hearings over Trump’s ongoing use of an his Android smartphone, which he has continued to use since taking office and may present a national security risk.
“Cybersecurity experts universally agree that an ordinary Android smartphone, which the President is reportedly using despite repeated warnings from the Secret Service, can be easily hacked,” Lieu writes in the letter. “This behavior is more than bad operational security—it is an egregious affront to national security.”
Lieu proposes a number of questions he and his fellow members of Congress would like answered, including “Is the President of the United States actively using his unsecured Android device, and if so, how?” and “Are cybersecurity and national security practices active and in place for the President and the Office of the President?”
Basic as those questions may be, there is no official answer thus far. President Trump was reportedly offered a secure device with limited functionality but has opted instead to continue using his Android phone, which is believed to be a Samsung Galaxy S3—a device that was first released in 2012.
Likewise, it is unclear there is the proper staffing in place to ensure that President Trump is making use of cybersecurity best practices. Earlier this month, it was reported the chief information security officer at the White House was abruptly let go.
It is unclear if the position, which is charged maintaining the security of the White House’s internal networks and in charge of managing devices and data security for the White House staff, has been filled.
Trump and his staff recently came under fire for using the light on their likely unsecured smartphones to read documents while coordinating a response to North Korea testing a ballistic missile. Doing so may compromise the documents if any of the devices pointed at the papers were compromised.
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