Video: Cyber Security Expert Says It’s Not Feasible that Today’s Glitches Were All a Coincidence

New York Stock Exchange

PJ Media, by Debra Heine, July 8, 2015:

After a technical glitch that stopped floor trading for hours, the New York Stock Exchange re-opened trading Wednesday afternoon late in the session.

Also experiencing “glitches” today were United Airlines, the Wall Street Journal, the New York City subway system, and 2,500 people in Washington, D.C., who mysteriously lost power.

While both the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI insist there was nothing “malicious” about the the NYSE glitch, a cyber security expert said that he “cannot fathom how this can be a day that is just chock full of coincidences.”

Greg Keeley of the National Cybersecurity Institute  told Fox News that the North Koreans have taken credit for the “glitch” that took down the New York Stock Exchange today, although the Obama administration maintains it was not a cyber attack.

“For the administration to come out so hard and so fast and say this was not an attack I think is disingenuous…. This is a major attack and for us to bury our head in the sand is very troubling,” Keeley said.

“It’s just not feasible that this is all happening at once, and this is all some kind of technical glitch,” he concluded.

Video via Gateway Pundit:

Update, 3:30 PM EST: After more than three hours, the NYSE resumed trading at 3:10 in the afternoon.  Acknowledging the widespread speculation that it might have been some sort of cyber-attack, Fox News quoted a law enforcement source repeating the official position that “the technical glitch that prompted the halt at the exchange does not appear to be malicious, but federal law enforcement officials are continuing to monitor the situation.”

However, Fox also had quotes from experts who weren’t so sure hostile action could be completely ruled out yet.  Bryan Finch of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman observed that while a technical glitch – perhaps caused or exacerbated by the Chinese situation and global market volatility – remained the most likely explanation, the NYSE systems are simply too large and complex to make any firm pronouncements yet: “We need more information to know an answer, and right now [we] don’t have enough to make a hard decision.”

On the other hand, Cendrick Leighton, CEO of a risk management consulting firm with experience in cyber-attacks, remained “very suspicious” of the timing: “This is too coincidental. You have United, NYSE, and Wall Street Journal so my suspicion is something is going on here. My suspicion is this was a test run by a cyber-hacker or potentially from a nation state.”