Hacker of SEC’s X account sentenced after admitting guilt

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Alabama man Eric Council Jr. has been given the maximum five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty over the compromise of the Securities and Exchange Commission's account on X, formerly Twitter, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

After infiltrating the SEC's X account via SIM swapping conducted with the help of his co-conspirators, Council proceeded to post fraudulent information regarding the planned approval of cryptocurrency-containing exchange-traded funds, which resulted in a Bitcoin price spike, according to the Justice Department. Such a development comes amid the persistent targeting of high-profile X accounts in cryptocurrency takeover scams. "The platform in question has become increasingly vulnerable to abuse, while simultaneously serving as a critical media tool for influencers, brands, and even governments. In short, the financial incentives are greater than ever, and in some cases, abusing these platforms has only become easier over time," said SentinelLabs principal threat researcher Tom Hegel.