March 10, 2018 at 16:10Sentenced to Russian hackers attacking US exchanges
Between 2005 and 2012, a group of Russian hackers broke into systems of more than 16 companies and stole 160 million credit and debit card numbers. Among the victims were the Nasdaq exchange, Citigroup bank, JetBlue airline, Visa payment system and other, no less large organizations. The activities of hackers have been called "the largest cyber attack in US history."
Hacking Nasdaq
In October 2010, a suspicious transmission of data from one of the central servers of the electronic exchange was recorded. It turned out that the hackers took advantage of software vulnerabilities and introduced malicious code. The program was not just spyware: it could not only steal information, but also completely destroy the computer network. According to the NSA, such a program can disable an entire exchange.
According to the initial version of the investigation, the malicious code was introduced in order to steal customer data or even destroy the exchange, but then this information was denied. As it turned out, hackers wanted to understand the principle of the exchange, in order to use it later in the work of Russian exchanges. They managed to repel the attack, but that would have been in question if the hackers hadn’t been in the way. This attack proved how vulnerable even large organizations like Nasdaq are.
Sentence
The investigation found out that the hacker attacks were carried out by the Russians Vladimir Drinkman and Dmitry Smilyanets. In 2013, they were arrested in the Netherlands, and then extradited to the United States. In 2015, they pleaded guilty to involvement in the attacks. According to investigators, in addition to them, three more Russian citizens participated in the crimes.
An American court announced the sentences to Russian hackers on February 14, 2018. Vladimir Drinkman was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and his accomplice Dmitry Smilyanets to 4 years. He had already served this term while under arrest and was released in the courtroom.
Hacks and the Russian financial market
In February 2015, an attack on Energobank occurred . Hackers managed to gain access to the computer from which transactions on the Moscow Exchange were carried out. Intervention in the course of trading led to high volatility - the dollar exchange rate ranged from 55 to 65 rubles for several minutes. Moreover, before the attack, the exchange rate was 62 rubles and fluctuated by several cents.
The attack lasted only 14 minutes. During this time, hackers placed five bids for the purchase of 437 million dollars and two bids for the sale of 97 million. As a result of unauthorized operations, the bank lost 243 million rubles.
Modern exchanges have rules in place that minimize the effects of sudden and violent price movements. Usually, before the start of trading, a corridor is established within which the price can change during the trading session. When you go beyond its limits, trading stops - this helps to prevent situations when, in the event of a panic in the market, the price of any financial instruments may fall by tens of percent per day.
In addition, crashes can occur for reasons not related to the activities of cybercriminals. In any case, stopping trading is far from the only possible problem. Errors in the operation of exchange systems can also lead to incorrect display of trading data or incorrect calculation of guarantee security to hold a position (an error can even lead to premature closing of a transaction)
In order to minimize possible damage, brokerage companies develop various customer protection systems. For example, such protection is in the SmartX trading terminal .