“I ‘hacked’ Trump’s Twitter account.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Sorry, I guessed the password.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Such has been the conversation regarding an alleged ‘hack’ into Trump’s Twitter account. Well, it was not really a hack if you guessed the password correctly, is it? Oh, it is? What if you are a researcher? Well, the Dutch Police want a glimpse of what you saw before pressing charges, Victor Gevers.
MAGA2020!
The first advice you get when opening your first online account is to never use a predictable phrase or word as your password. Well, according to Dutch researcher Victor Gevers, Trump never listened. And when has the realDonaldTrump ever listened? The researcher who announced last month that he’d practically ‘walked into’ Donald Trump’s Twitter account said he’d guessed the password as ‘MAGA2020!’ But nobody is accepting his claim. There was no two-factor authentication! Yeah, nobody believes him yet.
White House claims there was no hack. Twitter is also denying the claim. White House’s stance, I get easily, for it seems the Trump administration is in the habit of denying more than the election result. Besides, who would admit to using such a password in the first place?
Twitter, though, I don’t get. Like, why in Trump’s America would they deny there was ever a hack? Unless there was never a hack in the first place. Which leaves the Dutch with all the work to do. Bloody socialists!
Is Gevers a Witness or Suspect?
The Dutch police claim whatever investigation they are doing was not instigated by their counterparts across the pond. It’s not like they would admit it yet. However, Victor Gevers is helping the High Tech Crime Team as a witness and not a suspect. He had already told reporters about taking over the account as far back as October 22.
But what prove can Gevers show? Just take your own Twitter account for example. What are some of the things that you alone have access to? Tick them off, will you?
- Private messages
- Private tweets
- Blocked users
- More importantly, you can download your entire Twitter archive, including tweets and photos.
If police find that Gevers accessed Trump’s Twitter account outside the realms of cyber research, he could face jail time; he runs spending up to four years in prison. So much for guessing the easiest password in the world, up there behind ‘yourefired’. Don’t bother, we’ll get there soon enough.
Screenshots, Anyone?
When he took over the account, Gevers said he never changed any settings. Nor did he send out any tweet. In addition, he said he’d tried unsuccessfully to reach out to members of Trump’s campaign team.
Victor Gevers says he had taken screenshots of parts of Trump’s Twitter account that only someone with a certain level of access can do.
Some have cast doubt on his claims, saying screenshots could be faked. But Gevers is standing by his words. He has been involved with the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure for 22 years.
“I did not ‘hack’ Trump’s account, I did not bypass any security system as there was no adequate security in place. I just guessed the password and then tried to warn his team about the risks and how to solve them.”
Victor Gevers on guessing Trump’s Twitter password
It was not the first time he guessed Trump’s Twitter password either. In 2016, he gained access to Trump’s account by guessing the right phrase: ‘yourefired’.
Mobile Techer 