Private data including mobile numbers & passwords of top US officials can reportedly be accessed online

The private data of top security officials in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration can reportedly be accessed online.

The news was reported by German news magazine Der Spiegel on Wednesday, Mar. 26.

The article alleged that reporters from the news magazine were able to retrieve contact numbers, email addresses, and even passwords belonging to these officials via commercial data-search services and hacked data published online.

Leaked phone numbers & email addresses

Officials affected by the leaks include National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Most of the numbers and email addresses are reportedly still in use, and in some cases, used for Instagram and LinkedIn accounts, Dropbox, and apps that track running data.

Some of the phone numbers are also linked to WhatsApp and even Signal accounts.

According to Der Spiegel, Gabbard and Waltz's leaked contact numbers are linked to their Signal accounts.

The mobile number that led to a WhatsApp account that Hegseth appeared to have was only recently deleted.

Der Spiegel informed the three officials of its findings, but they did not respond to its request for comment.

According to The Guardian, the national security council said that Waltz's accounts and password mentioned in Der Spiegel's article had all been changed in 2019.

"The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans"

On Mar. 24, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg published an article detailing how he was accidentally added to a group chat on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, on Mar. 11.

Goldberg's article titled "The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans" said that the group was populated with accounts that seemed to be named after senior Trump administration officials.

Present in the chat includes Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth, Waltz, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, amongst several others.

The group chat discussed a potential attack on Houthi forces in Yemen, which ultimately took place on Mar. 15.

After believing that the chat was real, Goldberg left the group without ever posting a message.

After the article was published, top republican senators on Wednesday (Mar. 26) called for an investigation into the discussion of sensitive attack plans on Signal, Reuters and The Guardian reported.

On the same day, President Donald Trump was dismissive of the report, calling the scandal a "witch hunt".

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Top image via Mike Waltz, Tulsi Gabbard, and Pete Hegseth/Facebook