
Hackers with Apparent Investment Banking Background Target Biotech - rjett
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/technology/hackers-target-biotech-companies.html?_r=0
======
PaulHoule
If you look at the biggest daily movers, often they are pharma companies that
had a clinical trial published or an m and a.

It's a small enough space, however, and they may wind up like Steve Cohen.

~~~
dia80
You mean managing $10+ billion of their own money?

~~~
mikeyouse
Well he did get a stern 'talking to' from the Feds a few times, so that
must've been rough.

~~~
x0x0
I mean, he had a bare $10B left after his fine! That SEC is so mean to the
makers; jealous takers who think insider trading is illegal.

------
DaveWalk
I wonder what contents of a senior executive's inbox are worth. I admire how
thorough the hacking seems to be: executives, legal counsel, regulatory, and
even scientists. It seems to me like they are out for as much information as
possible. Good ol' fashioned corporate espionage.

And, less we miss the buried numbers: " _Half_ of these companies fall into
the biotechnology sector." I wonder what the other half points to?

~~~
mmaldacker
It's worth a lot. M&A or quarterly results can move stock prices quite
significantly and knowing about those before they are public will allow you to
bet against it on the market.

------
chatmasta
How secure do you think the passwords of these health execs are? For the most
part they are a bunch of 50/60 year old lifelong bureaucrats. I wouldn't
expect them to be the most security-conscious computer users.

Ten bucks says the highest levels of protection some of these execs have is
"what is the name of your dog" or "gl4x0sm1thkl1ne".

------
unreal37
I'm not sure how they came to the conclusion that the hackers have a "banking
background".

Is it that difficult to determine that hacking certain people's emails is
likely to lead to insider trading tips? Do you need a "banking background" or
"worked on Wall Street" experience for that? It's quite a leap.

~~~
jrells
The article says the hackers "can inject themselves seamlessly into email
threads". Its hard to judge that without reading the specific conversation but
I doubt they'll become public. The hackers may have simply spent some good
time studying up on the industry, but having a banking background seems like a
reasonable guess.

------
jackgavigan
I'm surprised that FireEye announced this while the hacking campaign is
(presumably) still ongoing. I'd have thought it was a terrific opportunity for
the FBI and SEC to team up and catch the perps in the act.

------
cylinder
Or the phishing was staged to cover direct insider trading.

------
kjs3
A hedge fund manager and a computer hacker meet at a cocktail party and get to
talking...

