Alabama man arrested for hacking SEC X account, causing Bitcoin price surge. Council faces charges including identity theft and fraud.
Eric Council Jr., 25, from Athens, Alabama, was arrested in connection with a January 2024 hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) X account. After the hackers posted a fake tweet, the incident caused a brief spike in Bitcoin’s price by $1,000. Council faces serious charges, including conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and access device fraud. His arrest marks a significant step in the ongoing investigation.
The case study is the X account of the SEC, formerly known as Twitter, which was hacked on the 9th of January, 2024. Council was among other conspirators who posted a message on the forum that the SEC had approved Bitcoin ETFs for listing. This was a fake announcement. It was enough to cause the price of Bitcoin to jump over $1,000. However, when the SEC regained access to the account, they stated that the tweet was made without their consent. Due to this, the price of the Bitcoin was reduced by $2,000 the following day.
SEC Twitter Hack Linked to SIM Swap Scheme
Council and his co-conspirators used SIM swapping to access the SEC’s account. This attack involves duping the phone carriers into porting a victim’s phone number to a new SIM card that belongs to the attacker. In doing so, the hackers bypassed the two-factor authentication and gained access to the secured accounts, including the SEC’s Twitter account.
As mentioned, after performing the SIM swap, the Council was able to penetrate the SEC account and post the fake tweet. In addition, preliminary charges include impersonating the victim to get a new SIM card associated with the victim’s phone number. He then used this to get the right codes to log into the SEC account. For his part in the hack, Council was to be paid in Bitcoins.
After the hack, Council tried to clean the trail by typing on the Internet about the SEC breach and how to know if he was being investigated by the FBI. As a result, all these actions added strength to the case against him.
This case was conducted by the FBI Washington Field, the SEC Office of Inspector General, and other law enforcement agencies. These findings revealed the problem of SIM swapping, a prominent cyber security issue.
The trial is ongoing, and major lawyers from the DOJ and U.S. Attorney’s Office are involved. Ultimately, this arrest warns cybercriminals that they will be prosecuted for interfering with financial markets.
