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Twitter confirms SEC X account was compromised and didn't have 2FA enabled

Jan. 11, 2024

SEC hack exposes the critical need for two-factor authentication.

Yesterday, the price of Bitcoin underwent wild fluctuations following a hack of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) official X account. A hacker posted a fraudulent tweet at 4:11 PM EST on Tuesday, falsely announcing the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Fifteen minutes later, SEC Chair Gary Gensler issued a statement on his X account warning about the compromise of the agency’s account. He also clarified that the tweet regarding Bitcoin was unauthorized and denied that the agency had issued any approvals. The price of Bitcoin dropped from $47,680 to $45,500, according to CoinGecko, after Gensler’s confirmation.

Safety, the official X account responsible for security and resources for X users, further clarified the SEC hack allegations. They confirmed that the SEC X account had indeed been compromised but not due to any breach in X’s systems, but rather from the account not having two-factor authentication enabled.

Safety stated:

“We can confirm that the account @SECGov was compromised, and we have completed a preliminary investigation. Based on our investigation, the compromise was not due to any breach of X’s systems but rather due to an unidentified individual obtaining control over a phone number associated with the @SECGov account through a third party. We can also confirm that the account did not have two-factor authentication enabled at the time the account was compromised.”

Since the incident, several US politicians have called for an investigation. For instance, Senator Bill Hagerty from Tennessee emphasized the need for accountability and compared it to the standards expected of public companies.

One day after the hack, and after several months of high anticipation, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally approved the launch of 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that would hold Bitcoin directly, marking a significant milestone for the crypto community. This decision comes after 10 years of failed applications and is expected to open the floodgates to a wave of institutional investment.

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