EU halts emissions trading after hack attack

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EU halts emissions trading after hack attack

The European Union on Wednesday suspended trading in carbon credits for a week after hackers broke into the national trading registries and stole and then sold millions of euros worth of credits.

"This transitional measure is taken in view of recurring security breaches in national registries over the last two months," the European Commission said in a statement.

The European Union Emission Trading Scheme (or EU ETS) is the largest multi-national, greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in the world. Limits are placed on the amount of carbon dioxide companies may emit, and those who pollute less are free to sell them to companies that need more.

Hackers were able to break into the national registries of several EU members and steal the credits and then sell them on the spot market, according to the commission.

Credits stolen from the Czech Republic were worth seven million euros.

The commission said it would work with national authorities to determine what minimum security measures need to be put in place before the suspension of a registry can be lifted.

This is not the first time criminals have targeted the ETS. Last year a series of emails sent to trick users into divulging their passwords, a type of attack known as "phishing", sparked panic and forced a halt into trading in numerous countries.

The European police organisation Europol estimate a value added tax (VAT) scam on carbon credits in 2008 and 2009 netted criminals five million euros.

AFP

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