Trump Is Easy To Hack: Wi-Fi Networks Of Mar-A-Lago, Trump Hotels, Golf Clubs Have No Passwords, Open Printers
Tracking President Donald Trump via social media geo-tagging is kind of easy, as reported by the Inquisitr. Anytime President Trump decides to go golfing at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey and Instagram users snap a photo and upload it and use the geo-tagging feature, intrepid members of the public know exactly where Mr. Trump is located. Skilled hackers might be able to find out a lot more about the Trump administration by taking advantage of weak and unsecured Wi-Fi networks at Trump properties.
A new article titled “Any Half-Decent Hacker Could Break Into Mar-a-Lago. We Tested It” is certainly getting lots of buzz online, due to what it reveals about how easy it could be to hack Mar-a-Lago; the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.; and Trump’s Virginia golf club, some of President Donald Trump’s common haunts.
At least three Wi-Fi signals surrounding the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach were weakly encrypted, according to Gizmodo, when reporters pointed a huge antennae at Mar-a-Lago recently. What could have taken five minutes to hack into went un-hacked because the reporters refrained from hacking into Mar-a-Lago. It was even worse at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., where reporters discovered two open Wi-Fi networks that didn’t require a password at all to join.
Tracking Trump: Reporters Find Photos Of Trump From Instagram’s Geo-Tagging Feature [Photos] https://t.co/b4BhgmvUEa
— The Inquisitr (@theinquisitr) May 9, 2017
The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., where Melania has joined Ivanka and her dad for dinner, Omarosa had her wedding, and Trump has dined with Ivanka and Jared more than once since becoming President Trump, didn’t fare better in terms of a hacking risk. Along with Trump’s Virginia golf club, reporters discovered additional hackable Wi-Fi networks, including wireless printers that had no passwords. The servers contained old software that left it open to hacking of sensitive data, and login pages that were not encrypted that could allow hackers to access back-end databases.
Those with the skills and gumption to hack such vulnerable items in the “Internet of things” at Trump properties could potentially command laptops, cell phones, and more to record top secret information.
Yep, those are our reporters boating around Mar-a-Lago and picking up its tremendously crackable wifi.
https://t.co/H0RYkpiyQo pic.twitter.com/H9vLtRHsYH
— Eric Umansky (@ericuman) May 17, 2017
While the publication notes that it’s not unusual for hotel properties such as those bearing Trump’s name to harbor lax security, it’s concerning that properties vulnerable to hackers at times enjoy the presence of President Trump and other world leaders. And Trump’s hotels have been hacked in the past, paying $50,000 in damages after the chain admitted losing more than 70,000 credit card numbers and hundreds of social security numbers, according to Gizmodo.
The publication noted how easy it was to access Trump’s properties in Trump’s absence, after driving a car in front of Mar-a-Lago and parking a boat nearby the lawn of Mar-a-Lago. Camp David, on the contrary, is run by the military. Both Camp David and the White House enjoy limited signal strengths of Wi-Fi, so folks driving nearby can’t access them, among other security measures.
The amount spent at Mar-a-Lago for digital security is unknown. Also unknown is if President Trump or any of his companions at his properties connect to such unsecured and vulnerable Wi-Fi networks via their mobile devices, computers, or printers. What has been made known are discussions about North Korean crisis situations on the patio of Mar-a-Lago, and photos of the moment it happened were posted to Facebook.
The publication discovered Wi-Fi networks named “TrumpMembers” and “WelcomeToTrumpNationalGolfClub” at Trump’s golf club that needed no passwords. Trump visited Bedminster golf club for a weekend stay two days after the reporters left. Thirteen-year-old software still in use was discovered at Trump’s D.C. hotel.
Called a dangerous discovery, the vulnerable Wi-Fi networks are making news because of the hacking risks they pose.
[Featured Image by Alex Brandon/AP Images]
