Dutch Authorities: Trump’s Twitter Was Hacked By Man Who Guessed ‘maga2020!’ Password

Dutch prosecutors have confirmed that President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was certainly hacked by a so-called “moral hacker” who didn’t should work too laborious to guess Trump’s password: “maga2020!”

Victor Gevers, a Dutch safety knowledgeable, cooperated with investigators from the Dutch Public Prosecution Service in November and freely launched info and screenshots pertaining to the Oct. 16 hack. 

“He … acknowledged to police that he had investigated the energy of the password as a result of there have been main pursuits concerned if this Twitter account could possibly be taken over so shortly earlier than the presidential election,” Dutch authorities informed the BBC on Wednesday.

Hacking is a legal offense within the Netherlands, however Gevers is not going to be prosecuted for his actions — doubtless as a result of, after initiating the hack, he tried to contact U.S. authorities and provided recommendation on the best way to make Trump’s account safer.

“The Public Prosecution Service believes the hacker has really penetrated Trump’s Twitter account however has met the standards which were developed in case regulation to go free as an moral hacker,” the service stated in an announcement.

Gevers stated in October that he guessed Trump’s password on his fifth try. Gevers informed De Volkskrant that he had logged into Trump’s account as soon as earlier than, in 2016, after guessing the password “yourefired” and was appearing with good intentions to check the safety of verified Twitter accounts. 

As soon as Gevers accessed the account with comparatively little bother, he reportedly contacted the Trump marketing campaign workforce and steered it allow two-factor authentication and alter the password to one thing extra complicated, like “! IWillMakeAmericaGreatAgain2020 !”

Two-factor authentication was enabled the next day, Gevers stated. Trump’s workforce initially did not reply Gevers, however Secret Service officers ultimately thanked him for exposing the vulnerability.

The White Home denied Gevers’ claims in October, and Twitter stated on the time that there was no proof to help claims of a hack.

A Twitter spokesperson informed HuffPost that the corporate “proactively applied account safety measures for a chosen group of high-profile, election-related Twitter accounts in the US, together with federal branches of presidency.”