The SEC didn’t follow best security practices in the lead-up to the X-account hack, and US lawmakers aren’t happy about it
In the wake of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The hack resulted in the release of a single tweet from the compromised account, stating that the SEC had approved Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) for Bitcoin.
The tweet resulted in Bitcoin’s price rising to $48,000, before dropping 6% and being confirmed as fake.
“Failure to follow cybersecurity best practices”
US lawmakers are now demanding an investigation into the incident, saying this breach could be a sign of other security weaknesses within the SEC that could lead to much more damaging breaches.
The bipartisan letter, written by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, calls for a review due to the SEC’s inability to implement two-factor authentication on the account at the time of the hack. The account was compromised because an individual obtained a phone number associated with the account and, as a result, was able to log into the agency’s account.
The letter urged the SEC to “examine the agency’s practices related to the use of MFA, and specifically phishing-resistant MFA, to identify any remaining security gaps that need to be addressed.”
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) has become a standard for online account security, with MFA providing an additional layer of security by requiring a one-time passcode, digital token or biometric authentication to access an account.
Through Reuters