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A nightmare unfolded on the day the SEC‘s X account was hacked, coinciding with the approval of an ETF. Investors suffered significant losses due to the malicious attack. The perpetrator, Eric Council, was arrested on October 17, and legal proceedings are currently underway. Today, Council pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Details of the Hacking Case
On October 17, 2024, Eric Council admitted to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft in court. This confession was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., along with other officials from the Department of Justice, the SEC, and the FBI’s Cyber Division.
Council faces a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. His sentencing is scheduled for May 16, 2025.
SIM Swap Attacks Explained
SIM Swap attacks allow easy access to bank and social media accounts. Council and his accomplices hijacked the SEC’s official @SECgov X account by using this method around January 9, 2024. The Justice Department’s announcement provided detail of their operation.
“Council created a physical identity using a portable ID card printer and impersonated the victim at an AT&T store in Huntsville, Alabama. He misled the store employee about the need for a backup SIM card, acquired the victim’s SIM, then purchased a new iPhone using the stolen SIM. He activated the phone with the victim’s SIM, received the @SECGov X password reset codes, and shared them with his accomplices.”
“One conspirator then used the reset code to access the @SECGov X account, falsely announcing the approval of Bitcoin (BTC) 
$108,871 Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) by the SEC. Following this announcement, BTC’s price rose dramatically before quickly plummeting.”
