{"id":59875,"date":"2023-09-12T03:35:11","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T07:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/markets\/crypto\/vitalik-buterin-discloses-twitter-sim-swap-attack-that-drained-691k-from-users-wallets\/"},"modified":"2023-09-12T03:35:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T07:35:13","slug":"vitalik-buterin-discloses-twitter-sim-swap-attack-that-drained-691k-from-users-wallets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=59875","title":{"rendered":"Vitalik Buterin Discloses Twitter SIM Swap Attack That Drained $691K From Users\u2019 Wallets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin revealed that his recent Twitter (X) account hack, that wiped over $691,000 victims\u2019 funds in a fake NFT promo, was a result of a \u201cSIM swap\u201d attack.<\/p>\n

Blockchain analyst ZachXBT, which confirmed \u00a0$691,000 had been drained<\/a>\u00a0from people’s wallets, declined to speculate whether Buterin was the victim of a \u201cSIM swap.\u201d The reply came as an X user, Satoshi 767, assumed that the hack could be a SIM Swap attack.<\/p>\n

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Essentially, SIM swapping occurs when a SIM scammer gains control of a phone number by assuming the victim\u2019s identity and persuading their mobile service provider. Once they have control over this, they pass any SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) processes for accounts associated with that number, gaining complete control.<\/p>\n

Buterin Confirms \u2018SIM Swap\u2019<\/h2>\n

In a post on the decentralized social media Warpcast, Buterin revealed that someone \u201csocially-engineered\u201d his Twitter mobile taking control of his phone number.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI had seen the \u2018phone numbers are insecure, don’t authenticate with them\u2019 advice before, but did not realize this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He said that the hack taught him to completely remove phone numbers from Twitter. A phone number is \u201csufficient to password reset a Twitter account even if not used as 2FA,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don’t remember when I *added* the number; my guess is that it was required to sign up for Twitter Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Twitter\u2019s terms were updated in December 2022, which reflected that a verified phone number is required for a Twitter Blue subscription. If a user is not yet a Blue subscriber and hasn\u2019t verified a phone number, the user will be prompted to verify a number when proceeding to sign up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyway, glad to be on Farcaster, where my account recovery can be controlled by a good wholesome Ethereum address :),\u201d Buterin said, after gaining control of his account.<\/p>\n

SIM Swap Isn\u2019t New<\/h2>\n

SIM swap attacks have had a long history in the recent past in the crypto sector. The\u00a0Federal Bureau of Investigations issued a warning in 2022 on the increasing SIM swap attacks that specifically targeted victims who were likely to own large amounts of cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

Per the FBI estimates,\u00a0$72 million\u00a0was stolen in SIM-swap attacks last year, up from\u00a0$68 million\u00a0in 2021.<\/p>\n

Last month, Bart Stephens, managing partner of Blockchain Capital, claimed that he fell victim to a $6.3 million crypto hack resulting from a SIM-swap attack. The hacker allegedly stole Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies from his digital wallets.<\/p>\n

Stephens has also backed influential crypto ventures like Worldcoin, Coinbase, and Kraken.<\/p>\n

In yet another SIM swap heist, LayerZero CEO Bryan Pellegrino confirmed in early July, that hackers took over his Twitter account briefly.<\/p>\n

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\u201cChecked my phone and saw SOS status and realized it had been a sim swap,\u201d Pellegrino wrote. \u201cLesson for me is that I need to be exceptionally careful about these things.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n