SEC Confirms Systems Remain Secure Following X Account Breach
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) assured that its systems and devices were not compromised after its official X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked and used to post a fake bitcoin ETF approval announcement. The SEC clarified that their staff promptly deleted the bogus post, un-liked certain related tweets, and provided an update on the official SECgov account within 30 minutes. They also sought assistance from X.com to terminate the unauthorized access to the @SECGov account, which they believe was successfully halted between 4:40 pm ET and 5:30 pm ET. The SEC reiterated that the breach did not affect their systems and that investigations by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are underway. Lawmakers expressed concern over the hack, emphasizing the need for the SEC to prioritize cybersecurity measures to protect public markets and their stability. In response, the SEC stated that they take their cybersecurity obligations seriously and are evaluating the impact of the incident while considering any necessary remedial measures.