Hackers in this domain target information. When a financial exchange is working properly, traders with better information get better results because they buy lower and sell higher. Hacks subvert this mechanism in two basic ways. First, they leverage not-yet-public information to make lucrative trades before anyone else. Second, they disseminate false information that drives the market, then make profitable trades before everyone else realizes that they’re being duped. Both of these hacks subvert market fairness: the notion that investors have equal access to information about the market.
Pump and Dump
