Hackers have been targeting newswire services Business Wire, PR Newswire and Marketwired. With the stolen information from various companies' earnings report news releases, the cyberattackers have generated as much as $100 million in illicit proceeds for themselves and traders, according to The New York Times.
Companies targeted in the scheme included Clorox and Hewlett Packard. The newswire services detected the hackers multiple times and kicked them out, but the hackers continued to return, according to the report.
In 2013, the hackers earned nearly a million dollars by illegally accessing a single release, an earnings report press release from restaurant chain Panera Bread. In the release, the company announced it was revising its earning guidance downward for the final quarter of 2013. The hackers gained access to the press release before it was shared with the general public using SQL injections, according to the report. As in many instances before, the hackers would share information with traders before the release was scheduled to go live.
As a result of the cyberattack, the hackers were able to short Panera stock; borrowed stocks would be sold with the expectation of buying it back at a lower price. The news release went live and the company's stock price plunged. The hackers walked away with nearly $1 million, according to the report.