Hacking Trump: the importance of cyber security

So, what could be the worst password for a president? President123? America1? Dutch ethical hacker Victor Gevers, thought about it and he cracked the code. Turns out that maga2020! (make America great again) was enough for the Twitter account of president Trump.

‘I thought oh god when I got in,’ said Gevers, ‘what I actually wanted, was that I couldn’t log in and certainly not with a password that easy.’ But, maga2020! turned out to be enough. Another alarming fact: no other measurements were taken to secure the account.

Hacking Trump: this wasn't the first time

Gevers is an experienced ethical hacker. Over the last couple of years, he found thousands security vulnerabilities. He is actually one of the three Dutch hackers who hacked Trump earlier. This was 4 years ago, again a few weeks before the elections. The password that time? yourefired. 

Apparently it remains important to repeat the basics. Therefore, this is how you set a password:

• Avoid using common words and character combinations in your password
• The longer the better - your password should be at least 8 characters long. If you want to be really secure, go for 12 characters or longer
• Never recycle your passwords
• Check if the password has ever been stolen - You can go to Have I Been Pwned and enter the password to see if this password has already been exposed in a hack.
• Use two-factor authentication (2FA) with a mobile app to generate a time based code. Free apps such as Authy, Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator should do the trick

Extra measurement to stay safe and sound

If you are responsible for an organisation, you can also choose solutions such as Single Sign-on, enterprise password management and adaptive multifactor authentication. Especially, now working from home is becoming the new normal, this is a smart way to stay protected from a possible hack. Also, you prevent a security vulnerability. 

From Passwords to Passwordless

In August 2020 password manager Lastpass released the report 'From Passwords to Passwordless'. Whatever the possible solutions, almost every IT professional agreed that passwords are becoming more and more of a problem. This report, in collaboration with Vanson Bourne, explores the current state of passwords in professional organisations today and the transition to passwordless authentication. It concluded that lots of organisations are looking for a passwordless future. However, they are experiencing challenges such as implementation costs, data storage and time management. 

Safe and secure with Tilaa

One can never be secure enough. It’s a Dutch saying Tilaa understands really well. Everyday we do everything in our power to keep your data safe. We are fully certified since 2014 and therefore we know how to keep your data, and the data of your customers, safe. Want to know more about the security measures we take?