A software engineer has said he discovered a glitch in the presidency’s server that would allow anyone to send a message to any authority in the world as if it were sent from the presidency’s official email.
Ahmed al-Nil said he developed a program that helped him discover the loophole in the presidency’s server, enabling anyone to easily hack it.
In a brief email to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Nil said, “I wish there would be more focus on the issue itself, rather than on me. I do not mind revealing my identity, but I would prefer the case not include me because it’s a matter of addressing a problem in a specific sector.”
Nil contacted the presidency’s public relations department in a message saying that people can now send emails to anyone. This breach in the server could have drastic repercussions, to the extent that war could be declared against another country or critical information may be divulged about another country, or endless other possibilities.
“The person who installed the server in charge of sending emails to and from the presidency left the domain op.gov.eg open without checking the user’s identity,” he said.
“I tried to report the issue more than once to the presidency that there is an electronic loophole through which the president’s email can be hacked but no one listened to me,” Nil said. “Thus, I developed a program to hack the email to prove what I was talking about.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
