Dealbreaker – Last month, BAE Systems\u2019 Paul Henninger breathlessly reported that a \u201cmajor\u201d U.S. hedge fund had fallen victim to a spear phishing cyberattack after an apparently dull employee clicked on link he or she shouldn\u2019t have. This was very bad news: The attack went on for two months and totally fucked up the hedge fund\u2019s high-frequency trading strategy\u2014which vulnerability did not stop the hackers from wanting to steal it, which they also did, according to Henninger. \u201cIt was having a material impact on performance across the portfolio,\u201d he said, forcing the hedge fund\u2019s board to \u201creview\u201d it.<\/p>\n
Now, this was all very convenient for BAE Systems, whose business it is to sell network-security services to, among other entities, hedge funds. And the FBI and something called the Center for Financial Stability thought it worth getting together to do something about it after \u201cnews about cyber-attacks against a major unnamed hedge fund.\u201d<\/p>\n