The official website for President Donald Trump’s campaign website was hacked and “defaced” Tuesday evening, with the campaign saying it has now solved the issue and the culprits did not steal any data.
Hackers appeared to take control of the site early Tuesday evening, placing a message on the front page saying Trump was spreading “fake news.” Hackers also said they had “full access” to Trump and his relatives during the hack, though it is unclear what the hackers meant by “access.” The campaign released a statement soon after the incident saying it does not store data on the website and therefore didn’t lose any during the hack.
“Earlier this evening, the Trump campaign website was defaced and we are working with law enforcement authorities to investigate the source of the attack,” Trump campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement emailed to reporters. “There was no exposure to sensitive data because none of it is actually stored on the site. The website has been restored.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Trump Campaign Press Sec. Hogan Gidley Breaks Down Trump’s Strategy From The Final Debate)
Screenshots of the apparent hack show the culprits attempted to spread a conspiracy theory that the Trump administration was “involved in the origin of the corona virus[sic].”
#Trump‘s campaign website was hacked earlier this evening in what is said to be a hack by cryptocurrency scammers.
The website said “the world has had enough of fake news spread daily by DJT, it is time to allow the world to know the truth.
The site is back now.#elections2020 pic.twitter.com/KWyMx4cCTO
— Ahmad E (@ahmadeofficial) October 28, 2020
The hackers claimed that Trump is colluding with foreign actors to destabilize the 2020 election, but there is no evidence for such a claim.
Campaign staff briefly took down the site to fend off the hack, but it is now working normally.