Dutch security expert claims he hacked Trump's Twitter by guessing password 'maga2020!'

The expert had supposedly managed to log into his account four years ago using the password "yourefired".

Kayla Wong | October 23, 2020, 01:36 AM

A Dutch researcher supposedly successfully logged into the Twitter account of United States President Donald Trump after five attempts.

Guessed password right on fifth try

According to The Guardian, which cited German newspaper De Volkskrant, security expert Victor Gevers claimed he managed to gain access to the account after trying "maga2020!" on his fifth attempt.

"MAGA" stands for "Make America Great Again" -- the campaign slogan that Trump often uses.

Gevers then warned the U.S. government about the breach by emailing US-CERT, a department under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, TechCrunch reported.

Trump's Twitter password was changed moments later.

Commenting on the alleged breach, a Twitter spokesperson has denied that it ever happened, saying they have not seen any evidence to corroborate Gevers' claim.

Not the first time

Gevers had also reportedly logged into Trump's Twitter account in 2016.

TechCrunch reported that Gevers, along with two other security researchers, logged into the account using the password "yourefired", which was Trump's catchphrase from the American reality TV show The Apprentice.

When he reported the security breach to authorities in the Netherlands, he also provided suggestions on how Trump could strengthen his account security, and listed "maga2020!" as one of the passwords he suggested.

Trump said "nobody gets hacked"

Previously, Trump has said at a campaign event in Arizona that "nobody gets hacked".

He was referring to journalist Steve Scully, who falsely claimed his Twitter account was hacked after sending a tweet to former White House communications director turned Trump's critic Anthony Scaramucci.

He said: "To get hacked you need somebody with 197 IQ and he needs about 15 per cent of your password."

https://twitter.com/mshelton/status/1318303047647309824

But technology news site TechCrunch pointed out that Trump's hotel chain was hacked twice in the past before.

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Top image via Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune/TNS/Getty Images