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Six years ago, Dutch hacker Victor Gevers logged into President Trump’s Twitter account by guessing the password: “yourefired.”
Then he did it again. On Oct. 16, Gevers, 44, made another accurate guess, maga2020!, on his fifth try, according to Dutch prosecutors.
Hacking is a crime in the Netherlands. But on Wednesday, Dutch officials said they would not press charges because Gevers had met the bar for “responsible disclosure,” demonstrating how easy it could be to gain access to the U.S. president’s handle: @realdonaldtrump.
“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.
Gevers was open about what he had done and said his aim was to show “vulnerabilities in the Internet,” the BBC reported. On Oct. 22, Gevers shared screenshots, apparently from inside Trump’s account. He also tweeted some advice, seemingly directed at the U.S. president, encouraging the use of two-factor authentication, which makes it harder to hack a password.
Read more here. (Washington Post)
Then he did it again. On Oct. 16, Gevers, 44, made another accurate guess, maga2020!, on his fifth try, according to Dutch prosecutors.
Hacking is a crime in the Netherlands. But on Wednesday, Dutch officials said they would not press charges because Gevers had met the bar for “responsible disclosure,” demonstrating how easy it could be to gain access to the U.S. president’s handle: @realdonaldtrump.
“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.
Gevers was open about what he had done and said his aim was to show “vulnerabilities in the Internet,” the BBC reported. On Oct. 22, Gevers shared screenshots, apparently from inside Trump’s account. He also tweeted some advice, seemingly directed at the U.S. president, encouraging the use of two-factor authentication, which makes it harder to hack a password.
Read more here. (Washington Post)
