Archived Content
The following content is from an older version of this website, and may not display correctly.NasdaqOMX responded to reports of a security breach of its systems saying that an application called Directors Desk was the target and that the company did not reveal the attack because the Department of Justice had asked it not to.
In a statement issued to the press Adena Friedman, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Chief Financial Officer wrote:
‘Through our normal security monitoring systems we detected suspicious files on the U.S. servers unrelated to our trading systems and determined that our web facing application Directors Desk was potentially affected. We immediately conducted an investigation, which included outside forensic firms and U.S. federal law enforcement. The files were immediately removed and at this point there is no evidence that any Directors Desk customer information was accessed or acquired by hackers. Our trading platform architecture operates independently from our web-facing services like Directors Desk and at no point was any of NASDAQ OMX’s operated or serviced trading platforms compromised.’
As well as its own 22 exchanges which it runs from core data centers in New York, Stockholm and London, NasdaqOMX services another 50 exchanges around the world. The company outsourced much of its data center operations to Verizon in 2009. Verizon has day to day responsibility for NasdaqOMX’s operations and infrastructure.
Friedman’s statement continued: ‘The U.S. Department of Justice requested that we refrain from providing notice to our customers until, at the earliest, February 14, 2011, in order to facilitate the continuing investigation.
NASDAQ OMX was honoring the U.S. Government’s request to delay notification, but when a story ran in the media on Saturday, February, 5, 2011, regarding a hacking incident at NASDAQ OMX, we immediately decided, in consultation with the authorities, that we must inform our constituents…We have been working in cooperation with the Government’s ongoing investigations and have received their technical advice for which we are appreciative.’
NASDAQ OMX was honoring the U.S. Government’s request to delay notification, but when a story ran in the media on Saturday, February, 5, 2011, regarding a hacking incident at NASDAQ OMX, we immediately decided, in consultation with the authorities, that we must inform our constituents…We have been working in cooperation with the Government’s ongoing investigations and have received their technical advice for which we are appreciative.’