GETTR — the new “patriot-friendly” social media platform established by former Trump adviser Jason Miller — was hacked on July 4, the same day the network had its official launch.
The hacker targeted the platform’s most prominent verified users, which just so happen to include a bunch of fan favourites from the Trump Extended Universe: Mike Pompeo, Steve Bannon, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Harlan Hill and Miller himself, all of whom found their accounts compromised on Sunday. According to Insider, the hacker made his presence known by editing all of the affected users’ profiles to include the same message: ““@JubaBaghdad was here 🙂 ^^ free palestine ^^.”
Although the platform had, confusingly, been live since at least July 2, Sunday had represented a formal launch for the platform that had unselfconsciously dubbed itself a “freedom network” and a “marketplace of ideas”.
In an interview with Insider, @JubaBaghdad did not disclose his method for hacking the accounts in question, but said that he had infiltrated the website in about 20 minutes “just for fun,” and that it had been “easy” to expose security flaws in the platform.
“They should not publish the website before making sure everything, or at least almost everything, is secure,” he said.
Although GETTR had corrected the initial security flaw by Monday, @JubaBaghdad added that he was still able to scrape user data from individual accounts without issue, including email addresses and birth years.
In a statement to Insider, Miller, GETTR’s CEO, seemed to eager to paint the security breach as a compliment to the platform.
“You know you’re shaking things up when they come after you,” he said. “The problem was detected and sealed in a matter of minutes, and all the intruder was able to accomplish was to change a few user names. The situation has been rectified and we’ve already had more than half a million users sign up for our exciting new platform!”
That “exciting new platform” — which seems specifically designed to attract Twitter users alienated by that platform’s decision to permanently ban Trump from posting in January 2021 — has already faced its fair share of speed bumps, security flaws notwithstanding. As Gizmodo previously reported, GETTR is also currently facing a content problem as a result of its aversion to moderation, and is currently littered with “…very niche porn, like furries and hentai … as well as non-pornographic but NSFW content like stock photos of old men wearing nothing but diapers.” Good luck to GETTR as it navigates these equally disturbing ordeals.