It's a story you don't hear often, and one you hope never to hear – a security breach hit a prominent Forex broker, allowing the personal information of private traders to become available to unauthorized eyes. The broker, Canadian-based Oanda, has divulged that some account information such as bank details, employment details and individual net worth of some of its fxTrade customers was discovered by hackers who accessed a laptop computer belonging to one of the company's employees. The hack is thought to have occurred between July 14 and July 17, 2012. Upon learning about the situation Oanda employees immediately disabled the affected username.
Though only an approximate 0.2% of Oanda accounts are thought to have been affected, the situation calls into question whether Oanda – and its competitors – are vulnerable to further hackers or other security breaches. Nevertheless, it is commendable that the brokerage was quick to publicize and apologize for this grievous mistake. The company is now working with authorities to better understand how such a security breach occurred and who may be responsible.