Politics
D.H.S. Intelligence Office Did Not Properly Secure Smartphones, Watchdog Says
The Department of Homeland Security failed to effectively secure smartphones used by staff in its intelligence office, raising the risk of cyberattacks and unauthorized access to sensitive information, the department’s inspector general said in a report published Monday.
The independent watchdog found that the department did not require certain security settings and allowed the office’s employees to download “high-risk apps” on mobile devices, including apps used for streaming or “associated with foreign adversaries.”
The report underscores security vulnerabilities at an office that helps identify national security threats and provides intelligence to state and local partners. Although immigration has been at the forefront of the department under the Trump administration, it was created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and has a broader mission of preventing terrorism and protecting the country from a variety of threats.
In a letter responding to the report, the Department of Homeland Security said it concurred with the watchdog’s recommendations and that it had already made some changes to better secure its mobile devices. The department also cast blame on the Biden administration in a statement on Monday.
“D.H.S. has worked diligently to fix the vulnerabilities Democrats created so that we can securely do our jobs in keeping Americans safe and secure in the homeland,” the statement said.
The inspector general’s report examined data on mobile devices used by the intelligence office in 2024, including smartphones and tablets that were considered “unclassified” but could hold law enforcement sensitive information.
The department centrally manages and enforces security policies on its mobile devices. But the report found that 76 percent of apps installed on devices used by its Office of Intelligence and Analysis posed security risks, were prohibited or allowed prohibited activities. The report did not give a specific list but said the apps were used for file sharing, online gaming, private web browsing and social networking.
Although the department generally restricts the use of apps it has not approved, it does not prevent the office’s employees from installing unapproved apps, according to the report. Some of the high-risk apps were also approved by the department, the watchdog said.
“The presence of these high-risk apps on government mobile devices significantly increases the potential for a security breach,” the report said.
The report also said the department allowed the office’s roughly 800 employees to reuse old passcodes and did not ensure all devices were properly updated. The department also did not ensure that employees’ phones received proper authorization for international travel or were configured with features to reduce the risk that foreign adversaries could intercept communications.
In its response, the Homeland Security Department said it would evaluate available options to remove prohibited apps already installed on devices. It also said that apps not managed by its mobile device system did “not have access to D.H.S. data and services.”
“For example, the Microsoft Outlook cannot share data with an unmanaged Waze application,” the department said in its letter.
The department also said the intelligence office would update or issue new guidance that clearly details the procedures for obtaining approval for foreign travel.
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Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s ongoing hospitalization is related to serious health repercussions of his heroism in New York City following the 9/11 terror attacks nearly 25 years ago, and the Republican stalwart’s condition appears to be improving, Fox News Digital has learned.
Giuliani was in the final year of his two-term mayorship when terrorists hijacked airliners and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, killing thousands. He was two blocks away when the first tower fell at 9:59 AM ET on that otherwise sunny Tuesday and felt the effects first-hand, close-up.
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Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman told Fox News Digital on Monday that the 81-year-old ex-mayor and former presidential candidate is currently recovering from pneumonia and still being monitored at a Florida hospital as a “precautionary measure.”
“On September 11, Mayor Giuliani ran toward the towers to help those in need, which led to a restrictive airway disease diagnosis,” Goodman said in a statement he also later posted to X.
FILE – In this Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001 file photo, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, center, leads New York Gov. George Pataki, left, and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., on a tour of the site of the World Trade Center disaster. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, )
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“This disease adds complications to any emerging respiratory issue, and the virus quickly overwhelmed his body, requiring mechanical ventilation to maintain his blood pressure.”
Sometimes called “World Trade Center Cough,” restrictive airway disease is a lung condition caused by inhalation of heavily-alkaline dust from materials like concrete, as well as asbestos and glass that was pulverized when the towers collapsed and shrouded about one-fifth of Manhattan Island in some level of dust-induced darkness.
Thousands of first responders have battled or died from the disease, leading famous Tri-State figures like comedian Jon Stewart to publicly take up the mantle of their cause.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani during a remembrance ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 terror attack on the World Trade Center at Ground Zero, in New York City on September 11, 2024. (ADAM GRAY/AFP via Getty Images)
Goodman said Monday that Giuliani is now breathing on his own and has primary medical providers at his side.
“Mayor Giuliani is the ultimate fighter—as he has demonstrated throughout his life—and he is winning this battle,” he said.
“His family deeply appreciates the outpouring of love and support. The mayor believes in the power of prayer, and we are feeling that strength today. He remains in critical but stable condition. Keep the prayers coming.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for reelection on Monday.
“Mayor Karen Bass is the leader Los Angeles needs right now. She has done what so many said couldn’t be done — the first ever two-year decline in homelessness, reducing crime to levels this city hasn’t seen since the 1960s, and refusing to back down when the federal government came after our neighbors,” Harris said in a statement. “She has my full support for re-election.”
The endorsement comes as ballots have begun arriving in Californians’ mailboxes at a critical moment in the race to lead the nation’s second-largest city. Although Bass leads in polls, she is viewed unfavorably by many Angelenos for her perceived lack of leadership in the aftermath of the devastating Palisades fire.
A quarter of voters supported Bass in a March poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies that was co-sponsored by The Times. City Councilmember Nithya Raman had the backing of 17%, and conservative reality TV star Spencer Pratt had 14%. A quarter of voters were undecided.
Though Bass led the other prominent mayoral candidates, political strategists say the numbers are troubling for the incumbent because she is facing off against lesser-known rivals and because 56% viewed her unfavorably. And Pratt and Raman had raised more money than Bass this year through April 18, according to fundraising disclosures filed with the city’s Ethics Commission. However, Bass had nearly $2.3 million in the bank because she started fundraising for reelection two years ago.
Though Bass and Harris were rivals to be selected as presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020, the two Democrats have known each other for more than two decades and have a long shared history. Bass was sworn in by Harris as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles in 2022. Two years later, at the Democratic National Convention where Harris became the party’s presidential nominee, Bass spoke about working with her more than a decade ago on youth homelessness and fixing the child welfare system when Bass led the California Assembly and Harris was a state prosecutor.
Harris also endorsed Rob Bonta for reelection as state attorney general, Malia Cohen for reelection as state controller and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis for state treasurer. Here’s a look at those races and the rest on the ballot.
Two months into the war in Iran, President Trump is confronting the complicated reality of a conflict that has proved costly, deeply unpopular and lacks a clear endgame.
Energy markets are in turmoil. The Pentagon has given its first public estimate of the war’s cost: $25 billion so far. Key Republicans in Congress are growing impatient. And Mr. Trump is lashing out at foreign allies, like Germany, who have shown no interest in joining the fight.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters on Friday, Mr. Trump insisted he had no regrets.
“I did something that was, I don’t know, foolish, brave, but it was smart,” Mr. Trump said at The Villages, a retirement community in a solidly Republican area. “I would do it again.”
Still, Mr. Trump’s predictions of a relatively short-term conflict with minimal economic consequences appear to be crumbling around him.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly defended the war, which he launched alongside Israel on Feb. 28, and said it is imperative that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. The United States and Israel have taken out military targets and killed senior Iranian leaders — including the Supreme leader — but the government there remains intact and able to inflict pain on the United States.
As the conflict continues, Mr. Trump has encouraged Americans to keep things “in perspective,” citing the long wars in Vietnam and Iraq to suggest that U.S. involvement in Iran is “not very long at all.”
Just three weeks ago, Mr. Trump said Iran had agreed to all of his demands and he suggested a breakthrough was near. Iran would work with the United States to remove its enriched uranium, energy prices would drop and a growing global crisis with potential severe political ramifications would subside.
None of that happened.
Mr. Trump has issued mixed messages about the future of the war, arguing that Iran wanted to make a deal while also saying that the leadership in Tehran was so “disjointed” that it was hard to tell who was calling the shots. He also said it’s not worth having his envoys travel 18 hours on a plane to negotiate a deal that might not come together.
And on Friday, after saying he was not satisfied with Iran’s latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Mr. Trump said, “frankly, maybe we’re better off not making a deal at all. Do you want to know the truth? Because we can’t let this thing go on.”
On Saturday, he appeared to double down, saying on social media that he was reviewing Iran’s latest proposal though he couldn’t “imagine that it would be acceptable.”
Mr. Trump has said his model for Iran was the U.S. operation in Venezuela in January, when U.S. forces toppled Nicolás Maduro. But the two scenarios are very different. In Venezuela, only Mr. Maduro was ousted, while much of the rest of the government remained in place and was willing to work with the Trump administration. That is not the case in Iran, in part because Iran’s leadership oversees extensive military capabilities.
For the moment, the two sides appear to be locked in a test of wills. Washington has maintained a blockade on Iranian shipping as Iranians have refused to accede to his demands to turn over enriched uranium. Mr. Trump on Friday described the U.S. Navy as acting like “pirates” as he celebrated the takeover of one of Iran’s cargo ships. On Saturday, a senior Iranian general said that renewed confrontation between Iran and the United States was possible, according to a report from the Fars news agency.
Mr. Trump has also acknowledged that military strikes might start up again. He told reporters in Florida on Saturday that a resumption of military strikes in Iran is a possibility, though he wouldn’t give details. “But you know, it’s a possibility that could happen,” he said.
The Strait of Hormuz is expected to remain effectively closed for weeks, raising the prospect of prolonged high energy prices. Despite Mr. Trump’s claims of gas prices dropping soon, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright acknowledged last month they could remain elevated for the rest of the year.
The closure of the strait also complicates Mr. Trump’s high-stakes trip to China in two weeks. President Xi Jinping has demanded the United States reopen the waterway through which China imports about a third of its oil and gas.
The war has deepened Mr. Trump’s fissures with global allies. After German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Mr. Trump was being “humiliated” over the war with Iran, Mr. Trump lashed out at the leader and his administration announced it would withdraw thousands of troops from Germany. He suggested he might do the same for Italy and Spain, which have both distanced themselves from the war.
The president has declined to ask Congress for permission to continue the war, despite passing the 60-day statutory deadline to do so on Friday. The administration has argued it does not need such approval because the cease-fire essentially stopped the clock.
Just hours after letters were sent to Congress making that case, the president undercut his own argument.
“You know we’re in a war,” Mr. Trump said in Florida. “Because I think you would agree we cannot let lunatics have a nuclear weapon.”
Some Republicans balked at the stopped-clock argument as concerns increase over the cost of the war, just six months from midterm elections in which Republicans are expected to suffer losses. Earlier this week, Pentagon officials said the war had so far cost $25 billion — roughly the cost of expanding Obamacare subsidies that were at the center of the extended government shutdown last year.
Mr. Trump has responded by repeating over and over again — including at a state dinner with the royal family and in a speech about tax cuts in Florida — that the war is worth any surge in gas prices if it means shutting down Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Most polls, however, have shown the war to be unpopular among Americans.
Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former State Department official who worked in the first Trump administration, said the inconsistent messaging will likely not satisfy voters.
“The messaging has been more than a mess,” Mr. Bartlett said. “It’s worth noting this week the political, economic, and even diplomatic aspects continue to get worse. The trajectory was down across the board and that is not a good thing as we dive into another week and even month of war.”
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