NYSE Is Not Impressed With SEC Review of Data Security Breach, Hires Former Homeland Security Chief

he NYSE announced the hiring of heavy-hitter former Homeland Security Secretary, Assistant US Attorney General and Judge, Michael Chertoff to investigate the Securities and Exchange Commission’s admitted computer security breach that rendered sensitive exchange data potentially vulnerable.  The Inspector General of the SEC recently reported that certain employees of the SEC’s Trading and Markets Division engaged in activities which resulted in computers, iPads, and other Apple devices left wide open to cyber threats.

The report also concluded that SEC staffers failed to take the necessary basic steps to install virus protection or encrypt computers and Apple devices; brought computers to o a Black Hat convention; used the computers for personal e-mails; downloaded music and movies and engaged in personal banking.

The New York Stock Exchange apparently is not impressed with the SEC’s internal and external reviews and is wondering why they were not informed of this breach months ago when the SEC itself became aware of the situation and began investigating it in January 2011. The NYSE was notified of the issue in October 2012.

Though the reviews have concluded that no data was stolen as a result of the SEC’s poor decisions, the NYSE “has reason to believe other unsecured devices contained exchange data are only now being reviewed,” according to the Chicago Tribune. The NYSE also believes that the SEC’s reviews only examined a small fraction of the compromised computers, and therefore were not comprehensive enough to eliminate the possibility that the devices were hacked.

And so the plot thickens.