Feds Announce Criminal and Civil Charges Involving Hacking and Insider Trading

On August 11, 2015, federal prosecutors in Newark, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, New York, announced charges against nine defendants in an international insider-trading scheme. The defendants are alleged to have hacked three business newswires, to have stolen unpublished press releases regarding financial information, and to have made trades that generated tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits. The ring of cybercriminals, including some men from Ukraine, hacked into company press release publishers to steal corporate news before they became public. The hacked wire services included PR Newswire and Business Wire. It is reportedly the largest case brought in the U.S. alleging hacking that resulted in insider trading. The SEC also unsealed a civil complaint against 32 defendants, including the nine who were indicted.

—Alexander S. Vesselinovitch, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Chicago, IL

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