A cyber-attack on a hedge fund which recently attracted a slew headlines never actually happened, BAE Systems, the firm at the centre of the story, has admitted.
Last month Paul Henninger, global product director, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, told CNBC that his company had found and stopped an attack which cost an unnamed hedge fund millions of dollars.
Now, in a statement given to the New York Times, the firm admits that the hack was not real, but a simulation. "Although the example was a plausible scenario, we believe that it does not relate to a specific company client. We sincerely apologise for this inaccuracy," says BAE.
In the on-camera interview, Henninger gives the clear impression that the attack was real. He told CNBC: "This was not something that was a minor issue for them, this was something that was getting reviewed at the board level at this hedge fund precisely because it was having a material impact on the performance across the portfolio."
Henninger is currently "taking some time away from the business," BAE has now told CNBC. Articulate Communications, the PR firm which pitched the interview, has not commented.