Dangerous news: personal data of Trump Phone buyers could fall into the hands of hackers / Screenshot of Channel 24/NBC News
Donald Trump's smartphone, which was promised to be a revolutionary product in the technology market, has found itself at the center of a high-profile investigation. Owners of the novelty have encountered unexpected problems that call into question the reliability of the brand and the security of users' confidential information.
What did Trump Phone do wrong?
Donald Trump's branded smartphone, known as the T1, has only been in the hands of the first reviewers for a few days, but a large-scale scandal has already erupted around it. According to the investigation of Steven Findazen, a popular YouTuber who runs the Coffeezilla channel and specializes in exposing online fraud, the device has critical security flaws. As it turned out, anyone who ordered this gadget risks becoming a victim of a personal data leak, writes Futurism.
Findeisen claims that the official Trump Mobile website contains an extremely simple vulnerability. This exploit allows even a novice hacker to not only create fictitious pre-orders for the T1 model, but also to view a complete list of data from all previous customers.
Don't order unless you're prepared to have your information leaked. It's actually that bad,
– warned Stephen Findaizen.
The YouTuber was informed about this problem by a so-called “white hat” hacker (good hackers who don't hack, but look for vulnerabilities and fight criminals), who was able to show Findaizen's real data: his name, order details, and mailing address. In addition to him, Charles White Jr., another well-known blogger, was also included in the leaked database.
This situation is also of serious concern because Trump Mobile offers nationwide cellular services. A logical question arises: if the developers failed to protect customers even at the point of sale, what level of security can those who connect their devices directly to the Trump Mobile network expect?
The same clip by Steven Findaizen: watch the video
We were lied to.
An interesting aspect of the leak was the actual number of orders. According to the hacker who gained access to the database, the total number of pre-orders is estimated to be around 30,000 units. This figure is significantly different from the previously announced 600,000 orders.
Earlier, in an interview with USA Today, Trump Mobile CEO Pat O'Brien refused to reveal the exact number of applications received for T1, which now looks like an attempt to hide the real state of affairs.
More and more questions
In addition to software and security issues, there have been questions about the hardware itself. The $499 smartphone, which was delayed by nine months, is almost identical in appearance and features to the Taiwanese HTC U24 Pro. If the T1 is really just a rebranded foreign product, it directly contradicts the marketing claims that the phone was “brought to life right here in the US.”
Trump Mobile representatives are currently ignoring requests for comment. Neither Steven Findaizen nor the journalists received any explanation for the vulnerability discovered. For the president's personal brand, this was another painful blow in a series of failures related to the launch of his own equipment.