Cyber Incident Victim: 45 Committee
Date:
Feb 2017
Location:
United States of America
Summary
A pro-Trump super PAC known as the 45 Committee experienced a website hack resulting in defacement, including altered section titles such as "Make America S****y Again" and "Black Lives Matter" graffiti on video content. Attackers renamed promotional videos supporting Cabinet nominees—labeling one "Steve Bannon is a White Supremacist" and another "Sessions is Deemed Too Racist to be a Federal Judge"—forcing the group to temporarily take down its site. The PAC, backed by prominent donors and actively advocating for presidential appointments, confirmed the breach. It had invested significantly in advertising campaigns to bolster Trump administration nominees amid contentious Senate confirmations.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On February 6, 2017, the 45 Committee—a Republican super political action committee founded by prominent donors Todd Ricketts and Sheldon Adelson—experienced a website breach that forced its temporary shutdown. Hackers infiltrated the site and defaced content supporting President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, altering video titles and section headers to display opposition messages. The homepage was retitled “Make America S****y Again,” while the video section bore the superimposed phrase “Black Lives Matter.” Specific promotional videos were retitled to include inflammatory labels: an advertisement advocating Tom Price’s nomination for Health and Human Services secretary was renamed “Steve Bannon is a White Supremacist,” and a video endorsing Senator Jeff Sessions was relabeled “Sessions is Deemed Too Racist to be a Federal Judge.” The group’s spokesperson confirmed the intrusion to CNN the same day, attributing the takedown to the hack. No technical details regarding the attack vector, perpetrator identity, or data compromise were disclosed publicly.
The incident occurred during a critical phase of Senate confirmations for Trump’s Cabinet, with contentious nominees like Education Secretary pick Betsy DeVos facing potential rejection. The 45 Committee had recently launched a new advertising campaign promoting Trump’s nominees and had spent over $4 million on broadcast and digital advocacy since the 2016 election. The hack disrupted these efforts temporarily, though the group resumed operations after securing the site. Established post-election with significant donor backing, the committee had expanded its staffing and was positioned as a key advocacy entity for the administration. The defacement’s content—highlighting racial controversies surrounding Sessions and Bannon—directly countered the committee’s messaging but did not alter the Senate outcomes for the targeted nominees. The group did not disclose remediation steps beyond the takedown or whether law enforcement was engaged.