Hacker Hit with 30-Month Prison Term in Securities Case

A federal court sentenced a Ukrainian hacker to 30 months in prison for his role in the largest known case of securities fraud using computer hacking, according to an announcement Monday by the US Attorney's Office in New Jersey.

Vadym Iermolovych, 29, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, computer hacking, and aggravated identity theft. Between February 2010 to August 2015, Iermolovych and his cohorts hacked into Marketwired, Business Wire, and PR Newswire (PRN), to steal press releases about upcoming announcements from publically traded companies before the information was released. (PRN was previously owned by UBM, which is the parent company of Dark Reading.)

The stolen press releases were then given to three stock traders who bought and sold shares based on what they learned in the announcements, giving them an edge before the general public could act on the market-moving information.

The stock trades generated roughly $30 million in illegal profits. Iermolovych, in addition to his prison sentence, is also required to pay $3 million in restitution for his actions.

Read more about the hacker here.