Hegseth 'had insecure internet line set up in Pentagon office'

The US defence secretary had an unsecured internet connection set up in his Pentagon office so that he could bypass government security protocols and use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, two people familiar with the connection told the Associated Press.

- Robert Mackey

ABC News also reported that Pete Hegseth had a "dirty line" - the name given by IT experts to a line that is used to connect to websites to which access has been blocked by an organisation's main networks.

Defence department computers connect to the internet through two different systems: SiprNet - or secret internet protocol router network, which is the Pentagon's network for classified information - and NiprNet - the non-classified internet protocol router network, which handles unclassified information.