Trump’s weak Twitter password and lack of basic two-factor authentication protections made it shockingly simple to hack his account, Dutch security researcher Victor Gevers reported. Sure, having your phone number attached to your Twitter account for two-factor authentication is great, but if you really wanted to make sure your account was secure, you'd take a peek into generating an app-specific password. Before you assume this is too complicated to do on your own, just know that Twitter makes it super simple to set up. Reactivating Your Twitter Account With 313 million active users from all over the world, Twitter is one of the most popular social networks in existence. Users of the network appreciate its simplicity, convenience, and reliability. A Dutch security researcher is claiming that he was able to gain access to President Trump’s Twitter account last week. The researcher says that all he had to do was guess that the password was.
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© Nicholas Kamm/Getty A Dutch hacker successfully logged into President Donald Trump's twitter account twice. In this photo, Trump speaks at a 'Make America Great Again' rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 22, 2017.A hacker in the Netherlands successfully logged into President Donald Trump's Twitter account by guessing his shockingly insecure passwords – twice.
Six years ago, Dutch hacker Victor Gevers first logged into Trump's account by simply guessing one of the president's staple slogans: 'yourefired.'
Then, on October 16, 2020, Gevers took a second crack at the account. On his fifth try, the hacker successfully logged into the president's Twitter profile by guessing the password 'maga2020!'
The October breach was confirmed by Dutch prosecutors on Wednesday, but officials said they would not press charges against Grevers because he reported the hack and acted in an 'ethical' way.
'We believe the hacker has actually penetrated Trump's Twitter account, but has met the criteria that have been developed in case law to go free as an ethical hacker,' the public prosecutor's office said in a statement, The Guardian reported.
Though hacking is a criminal offense in the Netherlands, the prosecutors said that Grevers acted with 'responsible disclosure,' and therefore will avoid facing any jail time, Vox reported.
On October 22, Grevers shared screenshots from inside the account, and was open about what he had done in order to expose, according to the BBC, 'vulnerabilities in the internet.'
That same day, the hacker appeared to tweet some advice to the president, writing that he should switch on two-factor authentication in order to add an extra security protection on his account.
'It started six years ago. And hopefully, it will be the last time in 2020. Please switch on two-factor authentication on all of your accounts. 🙏,' Grevers tweeted.
It started six years ago. And hopefully, it will be the last time in 2020. Please switch on two-factor authentication on all of your accounts. 🙏
— Victor Gevers (@0xDUDE) October 22, 2020Grevers, who identifies as a cybersecurity researcher, told prosecutors that he was looking for security issues in high-profile accounts ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
'He later stated to police that he had investigated the strength of the password because there were major interests involved if this Twitter account could be taken over so shortly before the presidential election,' the prosecutors said, according to the BBC.
Dutch police said they had sent evidence of the findings to the U.S., but Twitter and the White House have both denied the claims.
In a statement, Twitter said that it 'had seen no evidence to corroborate this claim, including from the article published in the Netherlands today. We proactively implemented account security measures for a designated group of high-profile, election-related Twitter accounts in the United States, including federal branches of government,' TheWashington Post reported.
Newsweek attempted to reach Trump's campaign for additional comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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