Nasdaq Server Breach: 3 Expected Findings

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/231901580

By Mathew J. Schwartz
InformationWeek
October 25, 2011

Remember the Nasdaq breach? It's worse than previously thought.

Last week, two experts with knowledge of Nasdaq OMX Group's internal 
investigation said that while attackers hadn't directly attacked trading 
servers, they had installed malware on sensitive systems, which enabled 
them to spy on dozens of company directors. "God knows exactly what they 
have done. The long-term impact of such [an] attack is still unknown," 
cyber security expert Tom Kellermann, CTO of AirPatrol, told Reuters, 
which reported the experts' findings.

In February 2011, Nasdaq OMX Group had confirmed that its servers had 
been breached, and suspicious files found on servers associated with 
Directors Desk, which is a Web-based collaboration and communications 
tool for senior executives and board members to share confidential 
information. The product has about 10,000 users, according to the 
company's website.

At the time, Nasdaq said that it had discovered the attack in October 
2010, immediately removed the suspicious files, and launched an 
investigation, saying "at this point there is no evidence that any 
Directors Desk customer information was accessed or acquired by 
hackers." But it wasn't clear how long the malicious files may have 
resided on Nasdaq's systems. Indeed, based on past breaches, many 
businesses fail to spot when they've been hacked, at least right away.

[...]


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