Earlier this month Nasdaq reported a IT breach where it found “suspicious files” on its U.S. computer servers and determined that hackers could have affected one of its Internet-based client applications The following is a post from Reuters
The operator of the Nasdaq Stock Market said it found “suspicious files” on its U.S. computer servers and determined that hackers could have affected one of its Internet-based client applications.
There was no evidence the hackers accessed or acquired customer information or that any of parent company Nasdaq OMX Group Inc’s trading platforms were compromised, the transatlantic exchange operator said on Saturday.
The FBI and outside forensic firms helped conduct the investigation, though Nasdaq OMX did not say when it was launched or when the suspicious files were found. The files, found in a Web application called Directors Desk, have been removed, the company said.
The probe, which is continuing with the help of securities regulators, comes as investors are growing increasingly anxious over the stability and security of the high-speed capital markets, which in North America and Europe are now mostly electronic.
Nasdaq OMX, which runs equity and derivatives exchanges in the United States and Nordic European countries, did not give details on the hackers or on what they were doing. “It’s nearly impossible to determine where it comes from, but the authorities are tracking it,” a spokesman said by email.
The May “flash crash” — an unprecedented market crash and rebound that took only 20 minutes — amplified growing worries over the stability of the complex U.S. marketplace, renewing pressure on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and exchanges to crack down on wrongdoing.
Instances of exchange computers being hacked are relatively rare, though the prospect raises questions about the exposure of trading data and the security of the national marketplace.
The revelation comes a week after an hour-long computer glitch locked the prices of two key Nasdaq indexes, though exchange spokesman Frank DeMaria said hackers played no role in that incident.
Full Link to the article available at
https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/05/us-nasdaq-hackers-idUSTRE7140KK20110205?pageNumber=1
In spite of the number of compliance and governance standards, online financial transactions have increasingly been vulnerable. A fundamental shift is required from compliance driven through policies to a more robust mechanism for implementing and evaluating security for financial transactions.
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