SEC chair says agency hack ’concerns me deeply’

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. senators from both parties grilled Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton Tuesday on the agency’s handling of a 2016 data breach that Clayton disclosed only last week. The hack focused on the agency’s system for handling corporations’ public documents, known as EDGAR.

“I was disturbed to learn that the SEC suffered a cyber-breach of its EDGAR system in 2016, but did not notify the public, or even all of its Commissioners, until it was discovered during your recent review,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, Republican from Idaho, said.

Clayton said the hack “concerns me deeply” and said that he has ordered an investigation by the agency’s Inspector General.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, acknowledged that the breach occurred before Clayton took office in May. But he criticized the SEC chairman for not revealing it more quickly.

“The disclosure, or lack thereof, is all yours,” Brown said. “How can you expect companies to do the right thing when your agency has not?”