The failure by major online news distribution outlets Business Wire, Marketwired and PR Newswire LLC to protect their information from the clutches of hackers has proven to be a catalyst for a $100 million insider trading scam that lasted for five years. Traders are said to have created a list of desired press releases detailing sensitive information which was stolen to order, hackers were paid a percentage of the resulting profits. Investigators revealed that a stolen 2012 press release by Caterpillar Inc. resulted in profits of $1 million for the hackers.
US prosecutors have brought criminal charges against nine people as a result of their investigations. A civil lawsuit has been brought against 17 people and 15 corporate bodies.
The scam that involved hackers based in Ukraine and client traders in New York, Cyprus, France, Malta and Russia has highlighted the problem of old news networks and has brought into the question the relevance and reliability of the old guard. Major tech companies such as Tesla, Google and Microsoft have recently taken to releasing information on their own websites and social media accounts.
Business Wire (of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Group) and PR Newswire claim to be co-operating with US prosecutors whilst examining their systems. Markewire believe that the measures that they have taken since the breach was uncovered have fixed the breach. US Attorney Paul Fisherman in New Jersey acknowledged the patience and sophistication of the hackers in a press release statement.
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