Trump's Twitter account was hacked, Dutch ministry confirms

[Eugene]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Trump's Twitter account was hacked, Dutch ministry confirms

AFP in the Hague
Wed 16 Dec 2020 19.10 GMT

Dutch prosecutors have confirmed that Donald Trump’s Twitter account was hacked in October despite denials from Washington and the company, but said the “ethical hacker” would not face charges.

The hacker, named as Victor Gevers, broke into Trump’s account @realDonaldTrump on 16 October by guessing the US president’s password, Dutch media reports said.

Both the White House and Twitter strenuously denied reports that the account had been hacked.

Gevers, 44, disclosed the hack immediately, saying the password he guessed was “maga2020!”, referring to the Trump slogan “Make America Great Again”.

The public prosecutor’s office (Openbaar Ministerie) said: “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.”

It added that hacking was a criminal offence in the Netherlands. But it said that “special circumstances”, also referred to in practice as “responsible disclosure”, could stop prosecutors from taking steps.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/16/trumps-twitter-account-was-hacked-dutch-ministry-affirms

[thucythucy]

1. Once again life imitates art

[Walleye]

2. I really had to look this time to see if this was the Onion

[dhill926]

8. ah yup....

[Drunken Irishman]

3. I mean if twitter and Trump deny the hack, could they have really charged him anyway if they wanted?

[PatSeg]

4. "maga2020"?

Seriously??? This is the man we've entrusted with launch codes??? That is very disturbing.

[yonder]

5. maga2020!?....maga2020!? WTF?

He's got his alpha, numeric and symbol elements covered but seriously, who would do that.

If accurate, that dude really is a child.

[LeftInTX]

6. Doesn't twitter require two factor authentification?

[DrToast]

11. That's my understanding

I'm skeptical of this report.

[Eugene]

14. A user needs to activate 2fa.

https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/two-factor-authentication

Otherwise, Twitter just sends notifications about a new device.

[tanyev]

7. No worries, he's updated the password: maga2024!

I assume.

[bdamomma]

15. .......

[keithbvadu2]

19. Or ivankamybabe2020

[SallyHemmings]

9. I assumed it was "I am great"

[MLAA]

10. Better change it to loser2020

[DFW]

12. That was, to put it mildly, not the most imaginative of passwords.

That would be like Pelosi using "Mespeaker" as her password. Somehow, I'm betting she doesn't.

[global1]

13. I Would Have Guessed Trump's Password Was.....

winner,winner,chickendinner

[sarge43]

16. I'd have bet mememe:* n/t

[ancianita]

17. The hack was probably meant to remove his tweets.

Too bad. Twitter's got the whole record, loser.

[niyad]

18. I remember it being covered here on DU. Most of us alternated between laughter and utter

Dumbfounded nests at the murdering, orange traitor's idiocy.

I do hope the launch codes are phony.