TeleMessage suspends services after hackers claim breach on app seen in use by Mike Waltz

TeleMessage, the app that President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Mike Waltz, appeared to use to archive his group chats, has suspended all services after hackers claimed to have stolen files from it.

A spokesperson for Smarsh, the company that owns TeleMessage, said Monday that the company “is investigating a potential security incident. Upon detection, we acted quickly to contain it and engaged an external cybersecurity firm to support our investigation.”

“Out of an abundance of caution, all TeleMessage services have been temporarily suspended,” the spokesperson said.

The app, which uses encryption technology similar to that of the popular messaging service Signal but also offers government agencies and companies a way to back up copies of chats for compliance purposes, first came under public scrutiny after Waltz appeared to be using it during a Cabinet meeting last week.

Several government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Treasury and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, appear to have active contracts with TeleMessage or other companies to use TeleMessage's services, according to government records reviewed by NBC News.