Hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Account; Increased Concerns About Security on 'X'

The hack of the official account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that occurred on Tuesday, January 9, raised concerns about the security of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), which was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in October 2022. Hackers accessed the SEC's account and published fake news about Bitcoin rates, causing a spike in the cryptocurrency's price and creating market confusion. The hackers' fake post, which was deleted half an hour after being posted from the SEC's X account, claimed that 'the securities regulator has approved exchange-traded funds to hold Bitcoin.' X stated that after initial investigations, it was found that an unknown individual had gained control of the phone number associated with the account through a third party and emphasized that at the time the account was compromised, the user had not activated two-factor authentication. While this popular social network claims that the hack of the SEC account was not due to a breach of X's platform systems, security analysts have described the incident as concerning. Austin Berglas, a former cybersecurity official at the FBI in New York, criticized X's vulnerabilities to Reuters, stating, 'When hackers can easily influence the value of Bitcoin in the market, it means the scope for spreading fake news is widening.' Nevertheless, Austin noted that the company actively protects the accounts of government officials and political candidates who 'may be vulnerable during certain civil processes.' Meanwhile, a former Twitter executive, who wished to remain anonymous, said that protecting prominent accounts like those of government officials was the main focus before Musk's acquisition, which included alerts for suspicious hacks with rapid response actions, but the staff working on it were laid off. Since Elon Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X, he has promoted the company's security, but former employees say it has worsened since then. According to a lawsuit filed last month by Alan Rosa, the former head of IT security at X, Musk ordered a 50% cut in X's physical security budget after acquiring the social network. This former X employee claims that Musk intended to cancel programs aimed at identifying and addressing digital vulnerabilities. Alan Rosa alleges that he was fired after protesting these actions.