Is there a breach in the security of the President of the Republic? On April 17, a complaint from the Elysée against Marc Doyer was dismissed. The presidential office was concerned about the content of a message that this activist opposed to Pfizer’s anti-Covid vaccine had left on the answering machine of one of Emmanuel Macron’s phones.
Marc Doyer obtained this number in 2017, when he campaigned for the campaign of the man who would become President of the Republic. How is it that this line is still active, while Emmanuel Macron has in the meantime become head of state? A situation all the more surprising since the President of the Republic constitutes a target for espionage by foreign powers. In 2021, The world had revealed that the head of state was a potential target of the Pegasus software, as well as the prime minister and fourteen ministers.
Confidential discussions on Osiris
Emmanuel Macron is not the only leader to have a number circulating: that of Boris Johnson was available online when he was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. How, in this case, can we limit the risk of big ears intercepting confidential exchanges? During the most sensitive meetings, Council of Ministers or Defense Council, smartphones and other connected objects remain at the door for all participants.
When ministers cannot see each other physically, they discuss the most confidential subjects via Osiris phones, which have a high level of security. This device, which is not portable, resembles a desk phone.
A secure but slow phone
The president has at his disposal, like certain ministers, a secure mobile phone, but which does not look like the Android or Apple of an average citizen: this device does not have an application store and only works with numbers other terminals connected to the same network, indicates to 20 minutes a source close to the case. However, here again, there is no question of discussing subjects classified as Defense Secret.
This phone has the disadvantage of being slower and less ergonomic than a consumer smartphone, leading members of the government and the president to continue using their personal cell phones. Furthermore, “a minister is someone who can be elected, who is called by journalists, parliamentarians, by the whole world,” notes the same source. These people will not have means of access to the protected state network.” In these conditions, it is difficult to deprive ministers of their iPhone or Samsung.
“If it’s secret, it’s not on the phone”
Would the solution involve encrypted applications? Since December, ministers and cabinet members have been asked to stop Telegram or WhatsApp and use Olvid, a French application which, according to its creators, guarantees a high level of cybersecurity.
A solution which is a first line of defense against threats, but which does not protect against all attacks, such as those of the Pegasus type. The safest defense “is that if it’s secret, it’s not over the phone,” adds this same source. It’s not just exchanges that are sensitive on a consumer smartphone: other data, such as geolocation, can be exploited by malicious actors. An additional risk with which the state security services must contend.