SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, January 9 (Reuters) – On Tuesday, the official Twitter account of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on X was hacked. This added another concern about the security of the social media platform.
Computer hackers published false news about an announcement regarding Bitcoin that was expected and widely anticipated from the SEC, causing the price of the cryptocurrency to rise and alarming observers. The fake post on @SECGov said the securities regulator had approved funds trading on the stock exchange to hold Bitcoin. The SEC deleted the post about 30 minutes after it was published.
Following a preliminary investigation, X confirmed that the SEC’s account was taken over because an unidentified individual gained control of a phone number associated with the account through a third party.
Austin Berglas, a former cybersecurity official and senior executive at the FBI’s New York office, said, “Being able to take over the SEC account and potentially impact the market value of Bitcoin – there’s a big opportunity for misinformation.”
The hacking of the SEC’s official Twitter account increased concerns about the security of social media platforms. The potential for computer hackers to influence cryptocurrency prices by spreading misinformation poses a serious concern for financial markets. This incident once again underscores how important the security of corporate accounts is. Strengthening security measures and making account access more secure is critically important to prevent similar incidents.
