The number of Signal downloads has skyrocketed after the scandal involving US officials' chat.

The popularity of the Signal messenger suddenly increased after an unexpected scandal involving the Trump administration. According to TechCrunch, citing The Atlantic, high-ranking officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Peter Ghesquiere, used a group chat in Signal to plan a military strike against the Houthis in Yemen. The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, gained access to the conversation and made its content public.

Despite the leak, the Signal application itself worked flawlessly, but the incident has led to a rise in interest and popularity of the messenger. According to analytics company Appfigures, the number of Signal downloads on iOS and Google Play increased by 28% globally and by 45% in the United States. In Yemen, where the strikes occurred, the popularity of the messenger also rose by 42%.

Signal has not yet commented on the situation, but the US government has launched an investigation into the incident, which revealed unplanned details regarding the attack and the use of aircraft.

The White House has instructed Elon Musk's Department of Efficiency to clarify the circumstances surrounding the editor of The Atlantic's joining the secret chat of the US presidential administration. Presidential advisor Mike Wolff took responsibility for creating the group chat in Signal, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that a serious mistake occurred.

Consideration of the possibility of firing presidential assistant Mike Wolff and Pentagon head Peter Ghesquiere due to the scandal of the data leak regarding US strikes in Yemen continues.