United States Senators J.D. Vance and Thom Tillis have urged the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to submit a report to Congress regarding the Jan. 9 breach of the SEC’s X account. The senators expressed their concerns about the incident in a letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler, stating that it raised serious questions about the commission’s internal cybersecurity procedures.
The senators described the incident as being contrary to the SEC’s three-part mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation. They expressed concern about the widespread confusion caused by the recent hack and requested that the SEC provide Congress with a report on the incident. This request was made in reference to a recently finalized rulemaking regarding cybersecurity disclosures.
The incident in question occurred on Jan. 9, when the SEC’s X account shared a false tweet suggesting that spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had been approved in the United States. The crypto community’s excitement was short-lived, however, as Gensler revealed that the SEC’s X account had been compromised and used to send out the unauthorized tweet.
The market’s unpredictable reaction to the confusion, along with the SEC’s apparent lack of preparedness for cyberattacks and online threats, led many to criticize the commission. An internal investigation confirmed that the account was not using two-factor authentication at the time of the breach. The investigation also found that the compromise was not due to a breach of the system, but rather to an unidentified individual gaining control over a phone number associated with the @SECGov account through a third party.
In their letter, Senators Vance and Tillis asked Gensler to share details about the SEC’s timelines for Bitcoin ETFs ruling and its plans to address the issues related to the fake approval tweet. They also requested a cybersecurity disclosure detailing all impacts to their business within four business days of the breach. If the SEC’s investigations confirm the findings of the internal investigation, the senators have asked the SEC to provide Congress with a full report within four days.
These sentiments were echoed by other members of Congress, who also demanded full disclosure on the incident.
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| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | North America |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | negative |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Gary Gensler, Daniele Servadei, Thom Tillis, J.D. Vance |
| Companies | United States Securities and Exchange Commission |
| Currencies | Bitcoin |
| Securities | None |
