Hoax hackers steal carbon trades

A BOMB hoax that resulted in the evacuation of the Czech carbon-emission registry allowed hackers to steal €7 million worth of carbon allowances in what was one of many similar incidents across the EU.

The European Commission ordered all countries to immediately shut down their registers and suspend trading when the thefts were discovered on Wednesday.

It transpires this was the latest in a series of thefts from the online trading system. Similar attacks were recorded in Germany, Austria, Poland and some other countries where at least €24 million worth of trades were stolen.

The commission experts made it clear the member states were at fault for failing to heed warnings and bring their security up to scratch.

“I am a bit speechless about the negligence some member states have been showing,” said Jos Delbeke, a senior commission official who deals with the area.

Their registers will remain closed until security has been checked and found to be adequate and each registry will only open when this is done, said Maria Kokkonen, spokeswoman on Climate Action.

The emissions trading scheme is an important part of the EU’s environmental action system. A limited number of permits has been allocated to emitting businesses. If they use less they can trade them on the market or buy more if required.

Ms Kokkonen insisted despite the hackings, the system as a whole was not under threat.

“The carbon market is a young market and it is growing in importance and sophistication and the bigger it gets the more attractive it is to criminals,” she said, adding the turnover of transactions last year was worth €90 billion.

In Prague on Tuesday the police received a call saying a bomb had been left at the carbon trading registry. The office was evacuated and people did not shut down their computers. The hackers transferred 475,000 allowances, it is thought to Estonia.

The Irish registry, managed by the EPA, was among those shut. The EPA said: “Our security is fully up to date, all the measures have been taken and it is being monitored very closely.” The EPA said they have not had any hacking incidents.