WASHINGTON (CN) - The SEC fined LPL Financial Corp. $275,000 for failing to protect its clients from online hackers, despite knowing of the dangers since 2006. Hackers traded or tried to make 209 unauthorized trades worth more than $700,000 in 68 LPL customer accounts, the SEC says; 10,000 LPL customers may have been compromised, the Commission says in the settled complaint.
LPL settled and agreed to pay the $275,000 without admitting anything. The SEC says it took this action because although LPL acknowledged its vulnerability to hackers in a mid-2006 audit, it failed to take action to protect its clients by the time the hacking began, in July 2007.
LPL is a financial services firm with headquarters in Boston, Charlotte and San Diego.
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