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Network attacks (allegedly) ravage London Stock Exchange

Open source trade system breach?

The London Stock Exchange and one of its counterparts in the US are investigating attacks that hit their networks last year and were intended to disrupt their operations, The Times reported on Monday.

Officials for the LSE are investigating a possible breach of the open-source trading system last year that may have led to the wild Flash Crash last summer. On August 24, the share prices of five companies collapsed, prompting the exchange to shut down trading early. BT alone lost £968 million in market value in the SNAFU. Up to now, officials have blamed the crash on incorrect prices entered on a large number of stock orders.

LSE officials have “been working with the Cabinet Office after uncovering an attempted terrorist attack on its headquarters just behind St Paul's Cathedral last year,” The Times said.

Separately, officials in the US are probing a separate attack on an unidentified American exchange, the paper reported. The perpetrators who are believed to have ties to Russia, may have used the attack in an attempt to “destabilise Western Financial markets.”

The report comes a week after the European Commission halted trading of carbon emissions credits following revelations that some two-million allowances worth about €30m were stolen from insecure accounts. Trading may resume later this week. ®

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