The US Securities and Exchange Commission was the victim of a hacking attack in 2016 and the perpetrators may have been able to profit from ill-gotten information, the agency announced. In a press release late Wednesday, the top US financial regulator said that "in August 2017, the Commission learned that an incident previously detected in 2016 may have provided the basis for illicit gain through trading."

"I recognise that even the most diligent cybersecurity efforts will not address all cyber risks that enterprises face," SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said in an accompanying statement. The attack targeted the SEC's EDGAR database which contains documents from publicly traded companies such as earnings statements and corporate transactions.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017