{"id":193547,"date":"2023-09-12T05:39:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T05:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/?p=193547"},"modified":"2023-09-12T05:39:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T05:39:36","slug":"vitalik-buterin-reveals-x-account-hack-was-caused-by-sim-swap-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tokenstalk.info\/crypto\/vitalik-buterin-reveals-x-account-hack-was-caused-by-sim-swap-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitalik Buterin reveals X account hack was caused by SIM-swap attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has confirmed that the recent hack of his X (Twitter) account was the result of a SIM-swap attack.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the decentralized social media network Farcaster on Sept. 12, Buterin said that he has finally recovered his T-Mobile account after the hacker managed to gain control of it via a SIM swap attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it was a SIM swap, meaning that someone socially-engineered T-mobile itself to take over my phone number.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Ethereum co-founder added some lessons and learnings from his experience with X. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cA phone number is sufficient to password reset a Twitter account even if not used as 2FA,\u201d he said, adding that users can \u201ccompletely remove [a] phone from Twitter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had seen the \u2018phone numbers are insecure, don’t authenticate with them\u2019 advice before, but did not realize this.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
On Sept. 9, Buterin\u2019s X account was taken over by scammers who posted a fake NFT giveaway prompting users to click a malicious link which resulted in victims collectively losing over $691,000.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 10, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko strongly recommended removing phone numbers from X accounts and having 2FA enabled. “Seems like a no-brainer to have this default on, or to default turn it on when an account reaches, say, >10k followers,” he said to platform owner Elon Musk.<\/p>\n
Related: <\/em><\/strong>How easy is a SIM swap attack? Here\u2019s how to prevent one<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
A SIM-swap or simjacking attack is a technique used by hackers to gain control of a victim\u2019s mobile phone number. With control of the number, scammers can use two-factor authentication (2FA) to access social media, bank, and crypto accounts. <\/p>\n
It is not the first time T-Mobile has been involved in this type of attack vector. In 2020, the telecoms giant was sued for allegedly enabling the theft of $8.7 million worth of crypto in a series of SIM-swap attacks.<\/p>\n
T-Mobile was also sued again in February 2021 when a customer lost $450,000 in Bitcoin in another SIM-swap attack.<\/p>\n
Article updated to include additional comments from Tim Beiko.<\/em><\/p>\n
Magazine: How to protect your crypto in a volatile market: Bitcoin OGs and experts weigh in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n