Futures exchange operator CME confirmed that its clearing service for energy and other exchanges was hit with a cyber attack in July 2013, which also compromised some of information related to its customers, leading to a federal criminal probe.
Spurring an investigation from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s owner claimed that there was no proof that transactions on its electronic-trading system or its clearing services were disrupted.
CME also modified customer credentials hit by the incident and is directly communicating with those customers affected by the attack.
The company’s ClearPort platform, which is used by over 17,000 traders globally, is a clearing service targeted at over-the-counter energy and metal contracts, handling over 450,000 OTC contracts per day.
Reports revealed that cyber attacks on firms rose by 8% to 66% in 2013, which were mainly attacked using various threats such as viruses, worms, spyware, and other types of malicious programmes, according to Global Corporate IT Security Risks 2013 survey.
Another report revealed that computers at about 53% of exchanges globally had been hit with cyber attacks last year.
