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Elon Musk\u2019s X is rolling out a security feature that will automatically lock any account that mentions cryptocurrency for the first time \u2014 requiring additional verification before posting resumes \u2014 a direct response to a wave of account hijacking campaigns exploiting social trust to promote scam tokens.<\/p>\n
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The auto-lock triggers on an account\u2019s first-ever cryptocurrency-related post. Once triggered, the account is locked, and the user must complete verification before regaining access. Bier described it as targeting the core attack vector: hackers gain account access through phishing emails, lock out the original owner, and use the account\u2019s established follower trust to promote fraudulent tokens, fake giveaways, and memecoins.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis should kill 99% of the incentive,\u201d Bier wrote in response to a user\u2019s account of how they lost control of their profile to a phishing attack disguised as a copyright violation notice. The attacker had used a pixel-perfect fake login page to harvest the user\u2019s credentials and two-factor authentication codes before locking them out and beginning scam promotion.<\/p>\n
Crypto-linked account hijacking on X has been a documented and persistent problem since the platform\u2019s days as Twitter. The auto-lock builds on earlier platform efforts to eliminate mention-spam campaigns and coordinated account behavior used in crypto promotions. Long-term users who have never posted about cryptocurrency will face verification on their first such post, while legitimate accounts, Bier indicated, can regain access quickly through the process.<\/p>\n
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Bier also publicly criticized Google for allowing phishing emails to reach users through Gmail. \u201cGoogle isn\u2019t doing shit to stop the phishing,\u201d he wrote \u2014 framing the auto-lock as a platform-level workaround to a vulnerability upstream that X cannot directly control.<\/p>\n