SEC reveals how its Twitter account was hacked - and it's rather embarrassing

By Benedict Collins for TechRadar
Tuesday, January 23, 2024

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The SEC had contacted X to disable the multi-factor authentication as it was causing issues while attempting to log in. If the security measure had been enabled on the account then the hackers would not have gained access to the SECGov account.

Speaking to TechRadar Pro, Dr Ilia Kolochenko, CEO and Chief Architect at ImmuniWeb and Adjunct Professor of Cybersecurity and Cyber Law at Capital Technology University, commented: "It is another timely reminder that 2FA via SMS is susceptible to interception and shall be replaced by more robust 2FA mechanisms, for instance, OTP via mobile app.

"While the SEC’s X account hack is a minor security incident, all governmental agencies shall review the security of their social network accounts. A breach of the SEC account can possibly cause market volatility for a short period of time, however, a message on X by the US Department of Defense announcing war or a nuclear strike can trigger unpredictable and devastating consequences globally." Read Full Article