Nasdaq Hackers Article Review

The article I found was from the February 5-6, 2011 weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal. The article, entitled "Hackers Penetrate Nasdaq Computers" by Devlin Barrett, describes the frequent attacks by hackers of the computer network that runs the Nasdaq Stock Market throughout the past year. Federal investigators are still trying to identify the offenders and what their intent was. Although it cannot be determined exactly what parts of Nasdaq's computer network were accessed, some possible motives are, unlawful financial gain, theft of trade secrets and a national security threat designed to damage the exchange. The exchange plays a pivotal role in the United State's infrastructure that is as important as power companies and air traffic control operations. At this point, it seems that the perpetrators were only looking around and have not yet tampered with the network. The article then transitions to the current state of cyber-crime and the motives and techniques hackers are using. Investigators continue to worry about security breaches; they are unsure if they have been able to fill all potential security gaps in an ever-changing cyber environment. The most sophisticated hackers are increasingly pursuing financial institutions, especially those involved in trading. These hackers don't instantly try to monetize the situation. They first gather the information they need and then determine the best course of action to maintain a long-term source of income. In this current case with Nasdaq, officials have not yet been able to trace the path to any specific individual or country. This poses two major threats for authorities: primarily, maintaining the stability and dependability of computerized trading, and furthermore, ensuring that investors have full faith in the system. This will be the challenge going forward.

One act that I think applies to this case is the Computer Security Act of 1987, in the area of federal