SEC names senior cyber policy adviser

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday announced Christopher R. Hetner has been named senior adviser on cybersecurity policy to Chairwoman Mary Jo White.

{mosads}He will be responsible for coordinating efforts across the agency to address cybersecurity policy, engaging with external stakeholders and boosting the SEC’s mechanisms for risk assessment, according a release.

“Cyber attacks are a constant threat to our markets,” White said in a statement. “With the cyber field steadily evolving and expanding, it is imperative we continue to enhance our coordinated approach to cybersecurity policy across the SEC.”

Hetner, who joined the SEC in January of last year, is the current cybersecurity lead for the Technology Control Program within the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations.

The agency’s cyber responsibilities have been in the spotlight this year, thanks to a rise in insider trading schemes facilitated by hackers.

The SEC has charged 32 people in a high-profile scheme to hack into three business news wires, steal unpublished press releases and use the information to make illegal trades.

The scheme — which resulted in the theft of more than 150,000 press releases from publicly traded companies — netted approximately $30 million in illegal profits, the Justice Department said last month.