U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Confirms SIM Swap Attack and Ensures Security Measures
Summary:
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has validated that it was targeted by a "SIM swap" attack, leading to incorrect assertions of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund authorizations on Jan. 9. After a detailed investigation, there is no evidence of any other SEC systems or accounts being compromised. The SEC officially approved several Bitcoin ETF applications on Jan. 10, which began trading on Jan. 11. The investigation continues.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has verified that it was targeted by a "SIM swap" attack resulting in an erroneous X post declaring the authorization of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds on Jan. 9. "Following the episode, the SEC's telecom carrier was consulted and it was established that an unauthorized entity had seized the control of the SEC cell phone number connected to the account in a presumed 'SIM swap' attack," an SEC representative commented on Jan. 22. "The rogue party, having control of the phone number, proceeded to change the password of the @SECGov account," the representative of SEC further stated. The SEC shared that a formal inquiry is underway to establish how the rogue entity convinced the carrier to alter the SIM for the account and ascertain how the perpetrator knew which phone number was linked to the SEC's X account. The SEC confessed that six months before the attack, due to access difficulties, multi-factor authentication had been disabled by a staffer as an extra protective layer, which was only reinstated post the Jan. 9 attack. Following an extensive search, the SEC has not found any signs indicating that the rogue party breached any other SEC systems, information, or social media accounts. The fabricated post that announced the sanction of the spot Bitcoin ETFs was from the SEC's X account. Source: X"SIM swapping" is a tactic where culprits seize a phone number by relocating it to a new gadget. The SEC formally greenlit multiple spot Bitcoin ETF applications the subsequent day on Jan. 10, with most starting trading on Jan. 11. As this story unfolds, more details will be provided as they emerge.
Published At
1/23/2024 12:59:52 AM
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