U.S. federal prosecutors offer plea deal to hacker suspected of hacking into SEC X account

Federal prosecutors plan to offer a plea deal to an Alabama man accused of participating in the January hack of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) X account and posting a false social media post about approving the first bitcoin spot ETF. "We're going to offer a plea deal, but we don't know if he'll accept it," U.S. prosecutors told the judge at a hearing in federal court in Washington on Friday. It is reported that Eric Council Jr., 25, pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and use of an access device to commit fraud at the hearing. Council's cooperation may help prosecutors track down his co-conspirators in the case. The co-conspirators allegedly used the stolen personal information of an SEC employee to gain access to the agency's accounts. (Bloomberg)