Dutch police question researcher who 'guessed Trump's Twitter password'

James Cook
Fri, 20 November 2020

A security researcher claims to have been able to access the president's Twitter account last month - AFP

Dutch police have reportedly questioned a security researcher who claimed that he had been able to access the Twitter account of Donald Trump.

Victor Gevers has claimed that he was able to access the president’s account simply by guessing his password. Twitter has said it has no evidence that the hack took place and Mr Gevers is yet to provide convincing evidence for his claims.

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service said this week that it is “currently investigating whether something criminal has happened,” Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reported.

A spokesman for the prosecution service described the inquiries as an “independent Dutch investigation” which was not prompted by any legal request from the US government.

Mr Gevers is not considered a suspect, the newspaper reported.

The security researcher has further information about the claimed hack but has not yet handed it to police. “Police asked me if I was willing to show it and I said no. Only if there is an indication of wrongdoing will the archived material be unlocked,” he told BBC News.

Mr Gevers has denied any wrongdoing. “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,” he told BBC News.

Mr Trump’s Twitter account is subject to extra protections designed to stop hackers being able to gain access.

However, the security researcher claimed that Mr Trump’s account did not use strong two factor authentication requiring a smartphone to verify a login attempt and posted screenshots which appeared to show him accessing the president’s Twitter account.

Mr Gevers claimed that he made repeated attempts to contact the US government to warn them of what he says were security issues with the president’s account, which has 89 million followers.

A Twitter spokesman previously said: “We've seen no evidence to corroborate this claim. 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."