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zackwhittaker/Twitter

Congressman’s phone passcode appears to be ‘777777’

It's good to see the nation's lawmakers taking digital security so seriously.

 

Mikael Thalen

Tech

Posted on Oct 26, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 12:32 am CDT

Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX.) appeared to reveal his incredibly poor phone passcode on Wednesday during a hearing in the nation’s capital.

As Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed privacy and security in front of the House Financial Services Committee, a camera caught Gooden unlocking his smartphone.

https://twitter.com/zackwhittaker/status/1187370042788405249?s=20

Gooden appeared to enter “777777,” hardly an uncrackable code for today’s sophisticated hacking tools.

Video of the incident quickly went viral, racking up millions of views and earning a spot on Reddit’s front page.

Gooden responded to the incident on Twitter Thursday by comparing himself to Kanye West, who also made headlines last year for using a weak phone passcode while visiting Trump in the Oval Office.

Just another thing @kanyewest and I have in common,” Gooden tweeted.

Gooden also tried to defend himself by arguing that a passcode is more secure than Face ID.

But that is only true if you actually have a good passcode. And 777777 ain’t it.

Perhaps a sitting member of Congress exposing their terrible password while one of the most powerful tech overlords is being grilled over security just feet away is par for the course in 2019.

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*First Published: Oct 26, 2019, 8:02 am CDT