BAE Systems didn’t tell the truth about hedge fund cyberattack, duped the media

Well, this is rather awkward.

BAE Systems caught spreading FUD about an alleged hacker attack against a hedge fund.

Only problem is, the attack never happened…

BAE Systems admits hedge fund hack never happened | Graham Cluley

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One hopes this was the simple case of an employee getting a little carried away with the TV cameras in front of him, rather than the repetition of a scenario that has been regularly rolled out in front of potential customers as if it were true.

More details here. (I suspect CNBC reporter Eamon Jeavers is pissed off)


Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "Smashing Security" podcast. Follow him on Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

2 comments on “BAE Systems didn’t tell the truth about hedge fund cyberattack, duped the media”

  1. Coyote

    Good ol’ Elmer Fudd! Oh, wait… THAT FUD, as in fear, uncertainty and doubt. You'd think corporations, organisations and more generally, anyone or any entity that wants to be taken seriously, would know by now. Let's see, how many decades has it been? I think with that then we can be sure they will NEVER learn until it leads to their own demise… but they're asking for it and they are responsible for their own issues from it…

    1. Graham Mann, Encode · in reply to Coyote

      It seems inconceivable that this could have been a genuine mistake. For very good reasons, companies that are the subject of such cyber attacks are rarely willing to publicise the event. In fact, many of our clients do not want to publicise that we even provide security services to them. Having a real-life example like this is a great marketing opportunity and clearly was too tempting for some people within BAE to pass over, except of course that it wasn’t real. Trust is a key commodity in life and none more so than in the security industry. By their actions BAE seem not to understand this or perhaps feel that they are too large to worry about losing trust.

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