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FBI Scolds NASDAQ Over Out of Date Patches

Posted by samzenpus on from the someone-needs-a-time-out dept.

DMandPenfold writes "NASDAQ's aging software and out of date security patches played a key part in the stock exchange being hacked last year, according to the reported preliminary results of an FBI investigation. Forensic investigators found some PCs and servers with out-of-date software and uninstalled security patches, Reuters reported, including Microsoft Windows Server 2003. The stock exchange had also incorrectly configured some of its firewalls. NASDAQ, which prides itself on running some of the fastest client-facing systems in the financial world, does have a generally sound PC and network architecture, the FBI reportedly found. But sources close to the investigation told Reuters that NASDAQ had been an 'easy target' because of the specific security problems found. Investigators had apparently expressed surprise that the stock exchange had not been more vigilant."

2 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Reuters is not much better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Reuters which is quoted in the article and which also provide feeds for the market are very slow at providing support updated Windows.

    http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/financial/financial_products/a-z/3000_xtra/#tab3
    Reuters 3000 Software requirements:
            Windows Vista with Service Pack 1, Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 2 and Service Pack 3.
            Office 2007 and Office 2007 with Service Pack 1 (with restrictions on Excel 2007 Service Pack 1).
            IE 6.0, IE 6.0 with Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2, IE 7.0.

  2. Re:Go anything else by SuricouRaven · · Score: 4, Informative

    They run both. The actual trading system (I recall) runs some form of heavily modified real time linux, because the high-speed traders demand crazily fast speeds - they are trading on the microsecond level now, and growing frustrated by the time it takes for a signal to go down an ethernet cable. The Windows servers will be for things like the frontend interface used by the less-high-speed traders.