Based on current information, staff understands that an unauthorized party gained access to @SECGov shortly after 4:00 PM ET on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. X.com Delete your account by taking control of the phone number associated with your account. An unauthorized person made a post at 4:11 p.m. ET purporting to announce the Commission's approval of a physical Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, followed approximately two minutes later by a post that read “$BTC.” The second post was made. The unauthorized party then deleted her second post, but not the first. The unauthorized party also used the @SECGov account to like two of her posts by non-SEC accounts. SEC staff is still evaluating the scope of the incident, but at this time there is no evidence that any unauthorized party accessed her SEC systems, data, devices, or other social media accounts.
A staff member from the public relations office learned of this incident and posted it on the official @garygensler. X.com The account was made public at 4:26 p.m. ET, confirming that the @SECGov account had been compromised, fraudulent postings were made, and that the Commission had not approved the listing and trading of Spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Products. warned the public. Staff removed the @SECGov account's first fraudulent post, removed two liked posts, and posted a new post to the @SECGov account at 4:42 p.m. ET indicating that the account had been compromised. is created.The staff also spoke to me X.com @SECGov I need help stopping unauthorized access to my account. Based on currently available information, staff believe the unauthorized access to the account was completed between 4:40 PM and 5:30 PM ET.
The SEC takes its cybersecurity obligations seriously. Commission staff is still assessing the impact of this incident on the agency, investors, and markets, but acknowledges that those impacts include concerns about the security of the SEC's social media accounts. Staff will also continue to evaluate whether additional corrective action is warranted.
Staff is working with appropriate law enforcement and federal regulators in the investigation, including the SEC Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, among others. The agency will provide updates on the incident as needed. Importantly, the Commission publishes its actions on its website. http://www.sec.gov. The Commission does not use social media channels to publicize its actions. Posts on social media only amplify the announcement made on our website.
