Three individuals have been implicated in a significant cyber heist involving the theft of $400 million from cryptocurrency wallets associated with the FTX exchange. The United States federal prosecutors have charged Robert Powell, Carter Rohn, and Emily Hernandez for their roles in executing SIM swap attacks, which led to the unauthorized access and transfer of vast sums of cryptocurrency.
SIM Swap Heist Details
The criminal activities took place around the time FTX declared bankruptcy in November 2022. The indictment suggests that the trio used identity theft of 50 users to facilitate their SIM swap attacks, enabling them to bypass security measures and gain control over the victims’ digital assets.
Blockchain security firm Elliptic and a Bloomberg report have both indicated that FTX is the likely victim of the mentioned attack. Following the hack, the stolen funds were quickly moved to other cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Kraken, in an attempt to launder the assets through various blockchain networks.
The SIM swap technique used by the attackers is particularly notorious for its ability to circumvent multi-factor authentication, which is a common security practice. This method has been used to target not only FTX but also other high-profile entities and individuals in the crypto space.
The aftermath of the attack sheds light on the vulnerabilities within FTX’s security infrastructure, which were exacerbated by the lack of proper systems, as noted by FTX CEO John J. Ray III. This situation likely contributed to making the exchange a prime target for the SIM swap hackers.