Oh Dear (tm)

[DaveB]

EU locks carbon market after security breach | EurActiv

The European Union locked all accounts in its carbon market on Wednesday (19 January) after a security breach, seeking to protect the battered reputation of the EU's main weapon against climate change.

The European Commission suspended much of its Emissions Trading Scheme, the hub of a 92-billion-euro global market, following the suspected theft of about seven million euros of emissions permits from the Czech Republic's carbon registry

[Doggy Styles]

Why steal emissions permits? Can you cash them in or something?

[amcdonald]

When you can sell on something that doesn't exist, they're a perfect target for cybercrime

[TykeMerc]

It's an impressive vapourware (please pardon the bad pun) product, got to be impressed that such a massive amount of money can be extorted from businesses for literally nothing.

[DaveB]

Why steal emissions permits? Can you cash them in or something?

They are tradable on an open market, either at spot prices or futures. There is no proof of ownership associated with them beyond the certificate numbers being traced back to the companies they were issued to. Having them to sell implies ownership as far as the market is concerned.

The market is international, so by the time the real owner realises they have been stolen they will have been transferred to another country and then sold on from there, potentially across multiple national boundaries.

The legalities of getting them back are horrendous for those who have lost them and they can be worth millions of Euro.

Most of the thefts seem to be originating in the former soviet union countries and some serious questions are being asked about the levels of security and accountability built into the registry system that underpins it all.