--- title: "Hacker Says He Got Into Trump’s Twitter Account" description: "A security researcher claims he has managed to get into president Donald Trump's Twitter account by guessing an \"extremely weak and easy to guess password.\"" date: "2020-10-22" modified: "2020-10-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hacker-says-he-got-into-trumps-twitter-account" categories: - "Cybersecurity" - "Future Society" - "Hacking" tags: - "donald trump" - "president trump" - "the digest" --- # Hacker Says He Got Into Trump’s Twitter Account ![]() *\Image: Victor Tangermann\* ## Weak Sauce A Dutch security researcher named Victor Gevers claims he managed to get into president Donald Trump's Twitter account — by guessing an "extremely weak and easy to guess password," as Dutch newspaper [*de Volksrant* reports](). Trump didn't even bother to turn on two-step verification, according to the researcher. Gevers was astonished when, on just on his fifth try, he was able to get in to Trump's account. The password for the Twitter account belonging to one of the most powerful men on the planet right now: "maga2020!" The security researcher was shocked. "I expected to be blocked after four failed attempts," he told the newspaper. "Or at least would be asked to provide additional information." ## Clear as Mud Gevers claims he managed to post tweets and make changes to his profiles. Screenshots of his "hacks" were later called "credible" by Dutch security experts, according to *de Volksrant*. The researcher says he reached out to the US government after discovering the major security oversight, before being contacted by the Secret Service. The White House and Twitter, however, are pushing back against the story. "We’ve seen no evidence to corroborate this claim, including from the article published in the Netherlands today," a [spokesperson told *TechCrunch*](). "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." ## Major Oversight If the story's real, though, it shows flabbergasting security lapses by one of the most powerful people on the planet. “It’s unbelievable that a man that can cause international incidence and crash stock markets with his Tweets has such a simple password and no two-factor authentication,” Alan Woodward, a professor at the University of Surrey, told *TechCrunch*. "Bearing in mind his account was hacked in 2016 and he was saying only a couple of days ago that no one is hacked the irony is vintage 2020." **READ MORE:** [Dutch Ethical Hacker Logs into Trump’s Twitter Account]() \[*de Volksrant*\] **More on Trump:** *[Trump Implies That the US Military Could Defeat Aliens If They Show Up]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()