Official X account of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission was ‘Hacked’
Earlier today, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) official Twitter account experienced a security breach. Gary Gensler, SEC Chair, confirmed that the account, @SECGov, had an “unauthorized” post published due to the breach.
A spokesperson for the SEC revealed that an unidentified individual gained unauthorized access to the @SECGov Twitter account briefly after 4 pm ET. The SEC has since regained control of the account and is collaborating with law enforcement and government agencies to investigate the breach and address any misconduct associated with it.
The compromised @SECGov account had tweeted about the regulatory status of Bitcoin ETFs, a type of financial product for investing in Bitcoin similarly to standard stocks. This tweet, which included a fabricated quote attributed to Gensler, was later removed.
This incident led to a temporary increase in Bitcoin’s value by approximately 2.5%, peaking at almost $47,870, before it fell about 3.2% from its initial price.
In response, US Senator Bill Hagerty urged Congress to scrutinize this incident, comparing it to the accountability expected from public companies in similar situations. Hagerty emphasized the need for answers and deemed the occurrence unacceptable.
This event marks the latest in a series of high-profile Twitter account breaches. Notably, Mandiant, a prominent cybersecurity company now under Google, had its Twitter account hijacked on January 3, with the intruder posting a harmful link attempting to defraud users of their cryptocurrency.
Concerns have been raised regarding Twitter’s ability to ensure security following Elon Musk’s significant reduction of its workforce. Critics, including a former Twitter information security official who filed a lawsuit against Musk, fear that these cuts compromise the platform’s security, especially for profiles of notable figures and government entities.
These concerns were echoed in a whistleblower report by former Twitter Chief Security Officer Peiter Zatko, who raised issues about Twitter’s internal security practices, including excessive and unmonitored staff access to the platform.
Allison Nixon, Chief Research Officer at cybersecurity firm Unit 221B, stressed the importance of trust in platforms used by governments for public communication, highlighting the challenges posed by account takeover threats.
The breach of the SEC’s account is considered one of the most significant since the 2020 incident, where hackers gained access to high-profile accounts, including those of Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Kim Kardashian, through a Twitter internal tool. The hackers posted fraudulent messages soliciting Bitcoin payments, amassing nearly $120,000 before the messages were removed. The culprits were apprehended within two weeks, partly due to evidence from Bitcoin’s blockchain.
