Key Takeaways
- Eric Council Jr. was sentenced to 14 months for his function in hacking the SEC’s X account.
- The hack led to a false Bitcoin ETF announcement, inflicting market fluctuations.
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Eric Council Jr., who helped facilitate the unauthorized takeover of the SEC’s X account that led to a false Bitcoin ETF publish, will spend the subsequent 14 months in jail, District Courtroom Decide Amy Berman Jackson announced the sentence on Friday.
The 26-year-old from Athens, Alabama, conspired with others to conduct SIM swap assaults on the SEC’s official X account (@SECgov).
Courtroom paperwork present that round Jan. 9, 2024, Council used a pretend ID to impersonate a buyer at an AT&T retailer to acquire a SIM card tied to the SEC’s cellular quantity.
Council then activated the SIM card on a brand new iPhone and acquired password reset codes for the SEC’s X account. After that, he captured password reset codes and shared them along with his co-conspirators.
Utilizing the reset code, certainly one of Council’s companions efficiently accessed the SEC’s X account and dropped a false announcement that the SEC had authorized spot Bitcoin ETFs.
The publish despatched Bitcoin’s worth hovering by greater than $1,000 in minutes, earlier than plummeting over $2,000 after the SEC’s clarification of the breach.
The hack occurred simply in the future earlier than the SEC greenlit the primary batch of spot Bitcoin ETFs within the US. Council was arrested final October.
Whereas he didn’t creator the publish that straight triggered Bitcoin’s worth motion, prosecutors said he performed a key function in enabling the scheme.
“Council overtly used SIM-swapping and identification theft to govern the Bitcoin market in an try and line his and his co-conspirators’ pockets,” mentioned FBI Washington Area Workplace Assistant Director in Cost Steven J. Jensen. “In the present day’s sentencing reveals that those that use the perceived anonymity of digital fraud to use public markets will likely be unmasked and delivered to justice by the FBI.”
Investigators additionally discovered that Council had been concerned in different tried SIM swaps and identification fraud efforts. Throughout a June 2024 search of his condo, brokers recovered a conveyable ID printer, a pretend ID card, and a laptop computer containing templates for added solid paperwork.
Web searches found on his units included “SECGOV hack,” “telegram sim swap,” and “what are some indicators that the FBI is after you,” to call a couple of.
Council, who pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit aggravated identification theft in February, should forfeit $50,000 – the precise quantity he acquired for performing SIM swaps.
He may also serve three years of supervised launch with restrictions on accessing the darkish net and interesting in identity-related crimes.
The hack additionally uncovered main cybersecurity weaknesses throughout the SEC.
An undisclosed report shared final December, which predated the January hack resulting in a false Bitcoin ETF announcement, discovered the SEC’s cybersecurity infrastructure was “not efficient” and “wants extra enchancment” in a number of areas.
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