Portugal Intelligence Warns of Global Cyber Attack on Secure Messaging Apps

Portugal's intelligence service issued a rare public warning about foreign hackers targeting government and military officials through WhatsApp and Signal. The cyber attackers are attempting to steal passwords and access sensitive communications from officials in Portugal and allied nations.

LISBON – Portugal’s national intelligence agency has issued an unusual public alert about an international cyber offensive targeting secure messaging applications used by government personnel and military members worldwide.

The intelligence service (SIS) revealed Wednesday that hackers backed by a foreign government are conducting a widespread digital assault aimed at infiltrating WhatsApp and Signal communications of high-level officials.

According to the SIS warning, these cyber criminals are attempting to deceive platform users “into sharing sensitive data, such as passwords” to compromise both private conversations and group communications, including access to shared documents.

The intelligence agency specified that the cyber offensive is focused on “government officials, diplomats, military personnel, and civil society members with access to privileged information from Portugal and allied countries.”

Portuguese intelligence officials declined to name which nation is orchestrating the hacking operation, noting that the attackers are “exploiting potential careless use by individuals relying on the end-to-end encryption of the two applications,” both of which are commonly utilized by government workers, defense personnel, and business executives.

The agency clarified that these intrusion attempts “do not mean that WhatsApp or Signal have been compromised,” though they did not completely dismiss that possibility.

This Portuguese warning comes just days after Dutch intelligence authorities reported Monday that Russian-supported hackers had similarly launched a worldwide cyber operation targeting the same messaging platforms.

The SIS stated it released this public advisory to assist citizens in defending against potential cyber threats.