Vitalik Buterin reveals X account theft was caused by a SIM-swapping attack

Crypto News– Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has officially confirmed that the recent breach of his X (Twitter) account resulted from a SIM-swap attack.

Vitalik Buterin reveals X account theft was caused by a SIM-swapping attack

During a discussion on the decentralized social media network Farcaster on September 12th, Buterin revealed that he had successfully regained control of his T-Mobile account, which had been compromised by hackers employing a SIM-swap attack. On September 9th, Buterin’s X account fell into the hands of scammers who utilized it to promote a deceptive NFT giveaway. This scam encouraged users to click on a malicious link, leading to collective losses exceeding $691,000 for the victims.

Ethereum developer Tim Beiko, on September 10th, strongly advocated for the removal of phone numbers from X accounts and recommended enabling two-factor authentication (2FA). Addressing platform owner Elon Musk, Beiko suggested, ‘Seems like a no-brainer to have this default on, or to default turn it on when an account reaches, say, >10k followers.‘ Buterin shared his decision to withdraw his T-Mobile account and stressed the importance of eliminating mobile phone numbers from the authentication process. This revelation came in the wake of suspicions surrounding the hacking of Buterin’s Twitter (X) account, with the attacker posting phishing links.

The malicious link, responsible for the compromise of his account, prompted users to connect their wallets for the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). However, it ultimately led to substantial financial losses for the victims. This incident underscores the grave risks associated with SIM-swap attacks, particularly when targeting individuals with substantial follower bases, making it easier for attackers to profit from phishing schemes.

The attack may also have ties to a scammer identified as Pink Drainer, with a known wallet address of 0x4e…b3f3. The cumulative loss resulting from this attack amounted to over $691,000, primarily in the form of CryptoPunks NFTs originally owned by bokkypoobah.eth.