Trump still using unsecured cell phones

[K1052]

President Donald Trump uses a White House cell phone that isn’t equipped with sophisticated security features designed to shield his communications, according to two senior administration officials – a departure from the practice of his predecessors that potentially exposes him to hacking or surveillance.

While aides have urged the president to swap out the Twitter phone on a monthly basis, Trump has resisted their entreaties, telling them it was “too inconvenient,” the same administration official said.

The president has gone as long as five months without having the phone checked by security experts. It is unclear how often Trump’s call-capable phones, which are essentially used as burner phones, are swapped out.

Trump’s call-capable cell phone has a camera and microphone, unlike the White House-issued cell phones used by Obama. Keeping those components creates a risk that hackers could use them to access the phone and monitor the president’s movements. The GPS location tracker, however – which can be used to track the president’s whereabouts – is disabled on Trump’s devices.

The West Wing official refuted the idea that the presence of a camera and microphone on the president’s phone posed any risk, telling POLITICO, “Due to inherent capabilities and advancement in technologies, these devices are more secure than any Obama era devices.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/21/trump-phone-security-risk-hackers-601903

Seems like an almost certainty that his devices are or have been compromised. Old dudes really don't understand as evidenced by Kelly not getting rid of his compromised device until word got out in the press.

 

[Blackjack200]

Almost makes you wonder just how important all these "secrets" really are.

 

[K1052]

Almost makes you wonder just how important all these "secrets" really are.

I'm sure the Chinese and the Russians are getting a kick of of his and Hannity's virtual pillow talk.

 

[dank69]

Remember when Hillary using a private server was a huge deal basically equivalent to treason?

 

[Commodus]

You'd think he'd lock it down given how leaky the White House has been. Foreign threats are what we should all worry about, but can you imagine if some less-than-scrupulous activists compromised his phone and obtained everything that wasn't explicitly encrypted, like a lot of his on-device email and text messages? He'd freak out if some discussion of illegal activity got out due to his own lax security.

 

[UglyCasanova]

This should be an absolute no brainer given he owes his presidency to data security and following protocols on it.

 

[Moonbeam]

I'm pretty sure this is a non issue for him because he operates on the assumption that nobody listens to him anyway.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Trump’s call-capable cell phone has a camera and microphone, unlike the White House-issued cell phones used by Obama. Keeping those components creates a risk that hackers could use them to access the phone and monitor the president’s movements. The GPS location tracker, however – which can be used to track the president’s whereabouts – is disabled on Trump’s devices.

Even if the phone just contain porn and Twitter this right here makes it a bad idea.

 

[outriding]

I would not be surprised if everyone in the WH all gets a new ZTE cellphones

 

[ch33zw1z]

This should be an absolute no brainer given he owes his presidency to data security and following protocols on it.

Lol, no brainer. Too bad Trump's got a huge brainer, unbelievable brain, just ask him

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-dreier-trump-intelligence-20171030-story.html

 

[Muse]

Almost makes you wonder just how important all these "secrets" really are.

This is the guy who hasn't stopped thrashing Hillary for using a private email account and he doesn't have the sense to heed warnings about his digital communications being insecure. He's a humongous hypocrite and an idiot.

Remember when Hillary using a private server was a huge deal basically equivalent to treason?

He hasn't stopped talking about it. I heard about him mentioning it fairly recently.

 

[Linux23]

Lol, no brainer. Too bad Trump's got a huge brainer, unbelievable brain, just ask him

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-dreier-trump-intelligence-20171030-story.html

God that article is fucking scary.

 

[mikeymikec]

Trump’s call-capable cell phone has a camera and microphone, unlike the White House-issued cell phones used by Obama. Keeping those components creates a risk that hackers could use them to access the phone and monitor the president’s movements.

I'm curious - how does one make a call-capable phone that doesn't have a microphone? Does the home button double up as a morse code tapper?

 

[pmv]

I'm curious - how does one make a call-capable phone that doesn't have a microphone? Does the home button double up as a morse code tapper?

Texts or web only? Kind of like an olden-days Blackberry device?

Not that I'm convinced that's what is meant. Probably they _do_ have a microphone, just not a camera. But such a thing could exist, and used to be commonplace.

 

[mikeymikec]

Texts or web only? Kind of like an olden-days Blackberry device?

Not that I'm convinced that's what is meant. Probably they _do_ have a microphone, just not a camera. But such a thing could exist, and used to be commonplace.

A phone without a working mic is surely not call-capable (or if call capabilities have somehow been disabled while keeping the mic functional). The next sentence then refers to the two parts as plural, so it's not just poor sentence construction. I wonder whether the author was putting official statements into their own words without engaging their brain, so while the component in question is the camera (ie. Trump phones have a camera, Obama's did not), the author brainlessly referred to cam and mic as if the latter was somehow relevant.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Mic could be pluggable, used only as needed, unplugged when done.

 

[fskimospy]

I'm curious - how does one make a call-capable phone that doesn't have a microphone? Does the home button double up as a morse code tapper?

The cell phones issued by Obama weren’t call capable.

 

[Homerboy]

It seems like in this day and age this is something that whatever staff/department at the WH should just be able to say "here's your new phone Mr. President" and (remotely) brick his existing one.
Why is that up to the President when he turns it in? Hell we can/do do that at our offices.

 

[fskimospy]

It seems like in this day and age this is something that whatever staff/department at the WH should just be able to say "here's your new phone Mr. President" and (remotely) brick his existing one.
Why is that up to the President when he turns it in? Hell we can/do do that at our offices.

Because he’s allowed to communicate insecurely if he wants to and no one can stop him. After all, information is only classified if he says it is and White House IT policy is in the end whatever he says it is.

 

[Commodus]

A good analogy for this mess:

If Obama is the tech-savvy uncle who knows more than his nephews and nieces, Trump is the clueless grandpa who falls for email scams and ignores your basic tech advice.

 

[Homerboy]

Because he’s allowed to communicate insecurely if he wants to and no one can stop him. After all, information is only classified if he says it is and White House IT policy is in the end whatever he says it is.

I'm not making this a "Trump thing" I'm saying it should just be a "POTUS Thing" going forward. Period. You want a cell phone? Part of the job requirements is exchange it when we say you need to exchange it.

 

[Homerboy]

A good analogy for this mess:

If Obama is the tech-savvy uncle who knows more than his nephews and nieces, Trump is the clueless grandpa who falls for email scams and ignores your basic tech advice.

The tax payers are going to end up helping a Nigerian prince soon, aren't we?

 

[zinfamous]

Kinda supporters the assumption from WH insiders and seasoned reporters that all of the WH leaks are coming directly from the Fat Toad's mouth. His inability to curtail is moronic, unprompted boasting in the company of others and, I suppose, is love of unsecured communication.

What a great brain.

 

[zinfamous]

A good analogy for this mess:

If Obama is the tech-savvy uncle who knows more than his nephews and nieces, Trump is the clueless grandpa who falls for email scams and ignores your basic tech advice.

I can't wait to see Trump's Twitter account start posting fwd>fwd>fwd>fwd tweets about how Bill Gates will pay you $1000 for retweeting this tweet.

 

[fskimospy]

I'm not making this a "Trump thing" I'm saying it should just be a "POTUS Thing" going forward. Period. You want a cell phone? Part of the job requirements is exchange it when we say you need to exchange it.

I mean I get you, but the executive branch operates in service of the president. I mean if the guy who owns a privately held company says ‘I want this shitty cell phone’ you can’t deny him because it’s against company policy. Or I guess more accurately he can simply change company policy as he sees fit to exclude himself. It’s always worked okay in the past because we always had presidents with at least a modicum of professionalism and integrity. (Even if just a modicum sometimes)

The main problem here is that Trump doesn’t see the presidency as a job he’s been hired to do and therefore has obligations and standards of conduct to uphold. He sees it as something that serves him.