The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed a breach of its official X account (formerly Twitter), attributing the incident to a SIM swap attack. This security lapse occurred on January 9 when an unauthorized entity gained control of the <a href="https://coingape.com/x-confirms-us-sec-account-was-compromised-amid-bitcoin-etf-hype/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@SECGov </a>handle, erroneously announcing the SEC’s approval of the first-ever spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
<h2 id="impact-on-cryptocurrency-market">Impact on Cryptocurrency Market</h2>
Following the false tweet, the cryptocurrency market witnessed immediate fluctuations. Bitcoin’s value soared to approximately $48,000 before plummeting below $46,000 once the SEC refuted the approval of the Bitcoin ETF.&nbsp;
Investigations revealed that the breach was facilitated by a SIM swap, wherein the victim’s phone number was illicitly transferred to another device. This enabled the perpetrator to intercept SMS messages and calls, ultimately resetting the account’s password. Compounding the issue was the absence of two-factor authentication (MFA) on the<a href="https://coingape.com/sec-x-hack-what-really-caused-the-big-blunder/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> SEC’s account</a>, a critical security feature that had been disabled since July 2023 due to access difficulties.
<h2 id="strong-reactions-and-responses-strong">Reactions and Responses</h2>
<a href="https://coingape.com/elon-musk-x-security-in-question-after-sec-account-hack/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Elon Musk,</a> X’s owner and a long-time critic of the SEC, responded to the incident with mockery. In contrast, X denied any system breach on their part. Meanwhile, the SEC confirmed the lack of evidence pointing to any compromise of their other systems, data, or devices. The breach was isolated to the telecom carrier, sparking a comprehensive investigation involving multiple law enforcement and federal agencies.
<h2 id="sec-s-security-measures">SEC’s Security Measures</h2>
Post-incident, the SEC has reactivated MFA for all its social media accounts. This move reflects a heightened awareness of digital security risks and the necessity of robust protective measures in safeguarding sensitive information, particularly for influential government agencies.
Moreover, multiple law enforcement and <a href="https://coingape.com/senators-urge-probe-into-secs-misleading-bitcoin-etf-tweet/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">federal agencies</a>, including the <a href="https://coingape.com/sec-enlists-fbi-help-over-erroneous-bitcoin-etf-statement/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">FBI </a>and Department of Homeland Security, are investigating the breach. They aim to uncover how the attacker persuaded the telecom carrier to execute the SIM swap and how they knew the specific phone number linked to the SEC’s account.
Read Also: <a href="https://coingape.com/grayscale-facing-intense-backlash-for-market-meltdown-heres-why/?utm_source=cgtelegram" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Grayscale Facing Intense Backlash for Market Meltdown, Here’s Why</a>
The post <a href="https://coingape.com/sec-admits-mfa-deactivation-led-to-x-account-hack/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SEC Admits MFA Deactivation Led to X Account Hack</a> appeared first on <a href="https://coingape.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinGape</a>.

SEC Admits MFA Deactivation Led to X Account Hack

Table of Contents

Coingape News Media

Other articles published on Jan 22, 2024

Bitcoin and Binance Coin (BNB) Price Analysis and Predictions

Bitcoin Is 1,000x Improvement on Monetary Technology: Samson Mow

Bitcoin’s Tumble: Analyzing the Current Crypto Market Dynamics

Top-6 NFT Trends

OSL Executive Director: Hong Kong Expected to Approve Spot Crypto ETFs by Mid 2024

5th Scape Brings A Hyper-Realistic World of Virtual Reality to Web3

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!