On October 28, 2020, the official website of President Trump was recently hacked as part of a crypto scam. His team is currently looking into the issue. According to a message left on the site [www.donaldjtrump.com], the scammers claimed, “The world has had enough of the fake news spreaded [sic] daily.”
Impact of the Hack
According to the campaign team, there was no leakage of any sensitive data. The reason for this was that no sensitive data was stored on the site. They have since restored the site. Various screenshots were being spread online. These screenshots showed the site briefly displaying messages that were posted by the hackers.
According to the text, which was accompanied by DOJ and FBI badges, the hackers wanted the world to know the truth. They claimed that they had gained access to multiple devices, which had given them access to Trump and his family.
Additionally, the hackers claimed that they had proof that the Trump administration had intentionally spread COVID19. Additionally, they claimed that the government planned to interfere in the presidential election, slated for November 3, 2020.
The Crypto Scam
After all those messages making wild claims, the scammers requested a crypto donation in exchange for the information they had acquired. However, no information has been leaked thus far to prove any of the allegations made. Additionally, the Trump campaign director has denied the loss of any sensitive information to hackers.
According to a tweet by Tim Murtaugh, Trump’s campaign communications director, the campaign website was defaced earlier. They are now working with law enforcement to investigate the origin of the attack. He reiterated that no sensitive data was exposed since there was none stored on the site. He concluded by stating the site had been restored.
Earlier this evening, the Trump campaign website was defaced and we are working with law enforcement authorities to investigate the source of the attack. There was no exposure to sensitive data because none of it is actually stored on the site. The website has been restored.
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) October 28, 2020
The Consequences
Defacement of websites is a considered low-level cyber vandalism. It is akin to someone using spray paint to vandalize private property. The hack only lasted for 30 minutes before Trump’s team took back the site.
While it was a low-level attack, the fact that they used crypto could raise the stakes a bit. In late August, hackers managed to steal the passwords of the Twitter accounts of various prominent personalities. The hack itself was relatively low level.
However, since they managed to add a Bitcoin address, they were able to snag over a hundred thousand in Bitcoin. As a result, what might have been a low-level attack ended up being a scam that was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It is not known if the scammers managed to receive any crypto in their crypto address. However, it exposes the dangers of lax security on public forums. While the hack itself is relatively low level, gaining access to such a publicly available platform could potentially net hackers millions in crypto.
US regulators could use the hack as an excuse to impose stricter restrictions on the crypto sector. Hacking such a prominent website will help to further narrative that crypto is only used by criminals. While that is not true, the average person does not know that. It could even lead to tough legislation being imposed on the crypto sector to stop “criminals.” The incidents highlight how the negative actions of a few could potentially hamper the growth of the crypto sector.
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