An international scheme in which hackers accessed dozens of online brokerage accounts to manipulate stock prices holds cybersecurity and beneficial ownership lessons for compliance professionals.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged 18 individuals Monday for allegedly participating in a scheme in which they hacked into retail investors’ brokerage accounts, forced those accounts to purchase large blocks of two microcap stocks, then sold their existing holdings of the same stocks at artificially inflated prices.

Aaron Nicodemus is the Editor-in-Chief of Compliance Week. He previously worked as a reporter for Bloomberg Law and as business editor at the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Mass. Email: aaron.nicodemus@complianceweek.com LinkedIn:...