Dutch prosecutors found that an ethical hacker did gain access to President Donald Trump‘s Twitter account earlier this year by guessing his password, according to reports.
BBC and The Guardian report that Dutch authorities will not charge Victor Gevers with wrongdoing because he alerted U.S. authorities of his ability to gain access to Trump’s Twitter account using a “maga2020!” password.
In October, Gevers claimed to have accessed Trump’s account after guessing that password. The White House strenuously denied the claims at the time, telling the Daily Dot that it was “absolutely not true.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday from the Daily Dot.
At the time, Gevers told de Volkskrant, a Dutch newspaper, that after discovering how easy it was to access the account he alerted American agencies.
BBC reports that the Dutch authorities have sent officials in the U.S. their findings. The news outlet also reported that the Dutch police said Gevers “stated to police that he had investigated the strength of the password because there were major interests involved if this Twitter account could be taken over so shortly before the presidential election.”
The Netherlands public prosecutor office said on Wednesday that they “believe the hacker has actually penetrated Trump’s Twitter account, but has met the criteria that have been developed in case law to go free as an ethical hacker,” according to the Guardian.
