Post-Signalgate, Pentagon CIO prioritizes secure platforms for sensitive instant messaging

The full consequences of the Trump administration’s “Signalgate” affair remain unseen — but in response, personnel inside the Office of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer are moving to accelerate government and military leaders’ access to trustworthy and protected options for transmitting instant communications about sensitive, real-time information.

“This is something that, when they say ‘incidents happen,’ it innovates us and urges us to make the requirement, and make the devices, and make the technology available. So, this is something that we are taking as a priority,” Katie Arrington, the senior official performing the duties of Pentagon CIO, told lawmakers Thursday.

She shed new light on those and other near-term plans during a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing about the DOD’s current IT and AI posture.

Reports first emerged in March that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared high-stakes military operational plans in a group chat — via the encrypted but unclassified texting app Signal — with several of his counterparts in the Trump administration and an American journalist (who unveiled the ordeal after he was accidentally added to the group chat). Cybersecurity advocates, former military officials and members of Congress immediately raised concerns about the messages and warned that sharing classified or sensitive information on non-government platforms about planned military operations could put servicemembers’ lives at risk.

With support from President Donald Trump, Hegseth repeatedly pushed back on criticism about his Signal use — and news reports have since surfaced that the SecDef has texted in multiple other chats on the app, where Pentagon business was discussed. 

In April, the Pentagon inspector general opened an investigation into Hegseth’s participation in transferring details about impending military operations on unclassified networks. Officials involved are also reviewing whether DOD’s official policies and procedures were followed and if records retention requirements were met.

“The way we have traditionally communicated is going into a [Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF] and having a high-side communication, and that has been the way we have worked it for many, many, many, many years. And we’re evolving. The technology is evolving. And I will just say that it is [up to] my office, along with many others, to ensure that we come up with a real capability in real-time to allow that communication to go forward. It’s paramount,” Arrington said.

“And I’m not really fond of voice [communications]. I think that there’s enough microphones and people out there in the world that I really like the idea of text messaging and ensuring that our elite senior leaders can communicate effectively away from their offices, because the government doesn’t [just] function within the building, within the Pentagon, or within the White House, or within this building itself,” she added.

Earlier this week, Trump named Kirsten Davies to serve as the DOD’s next CIO in a permanent capacity. Until she takes the helm, Arrington is currently wearing dual hats as acting CIO and chief information security officer. During Trump’s first term, Arrington served as the department’s CISO for acquisition and sustainment. In 2021, under the Biden administration, it was disclosed that her clearance was suspended as “a result of a reported Unauthorized Disclosure of Classified Information and subsequent removal of access by the National Security Agency.” Public details are sparse, but a lawsuit associated with the scandal was settled between Arrington and the DOD in 2022.

At the hearing on Thursday, she told lawmakers that — behind one other “classified endeavor” — finding a way for senior government leaders across agencies and the White House, as well as members of Congress, “to have true secure communications on a day-to-day basis” is considered the “number two priority” in her office.

“That’s what I’m doing right now, sir, because it is paramount for me,” Arrington reiterated.

She didn’t expand on what the unfolding efforts to accelerate secure texting options currently entail. In her written testimony, Arrington pointed to one key modernization initiative that will involve producing an enterprise-wide Mission Partner Environment to underpin secure information exchanges between U.S. officials and international allies at various classification levels.

“My office’s job is to make sure that we do better for both you, the secretary of defense, the deputy, the president — everyone across the board — it’s a forcing function. It is something that is a priority for our office to make sure that we have that in rapid time. I would be more than happy to give you a classified brief on all of the efforts that we’re doing to ensure security of communications,” Arrington told lawmakers at the hearing.