Ddos 
On May 16th, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced the sentencing of an Alabama man who played a central role in hijacking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) official X account (formerly Twitter). The attacker used a SIM swapping technique to falsely announce the approval of a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)—a post that sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency market.
Eric Council Jr., 26, of Huntsville, Alabama, has been sentenced to 14 months in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.
According to the DOJ press release, “Council and his co-conspirators used sophisticated cyber means to compromise the SEC’s X account and posted a false announcement that distorted important financial markets.”
The false ETF approval post, attributed to the SEC Chairman, caused Bitcoin’s price to surge by over $1,000 per coin—before crashing down by more than $2,000 after the misinformation was corrected.
Behind the deception was a SIM swap attack, in which Council used a fraudulent ID—crafted using personally identifiable information from co-conspirators—to trick a cellular provider into transferring a victim’s number to a SIM card he controlled. This allowed access to the SEC’s X account, paving the way for the fraudulent announcement.
“SIM swap schemes threaten the financial security of average citizens, financial institutions, and government agencies,” stated U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. “Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can’t be caught. You will be caught, prosecuted, and will pay the price for the damage your actions create.”
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