In what may be a bigger concern, according to Henry, hackers have gained enough access to disrupt networks that underpin the global financial system. They could sever connections to bring down networks -- though they haven’t.

Golden Egg

“It’s like killing the goose that lays the Golden Egg,” Henry said. “They’re getting money.”

Don’t assume hedge funds aren’t prepared for sophisticated attacks, cautioned Sylvain Ardiet, a managing partner at Alphaserve Technologies, which advises hedge funds, private equity funds and other financial firms on technology.

Firms that use quantitative models and algorithms to trade “are much more secure and better prepared for potential attacks than the average fund because they have invested more time and money in infrastructure and next-generation technologies,” said Ardiet. “I don’t think they are more prone to attack than other large financial firms.”

U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House intelligence committee, has raised a broader fear that hackers, including those sponsored by China, could steal inside information that could be used to manipulate trading.

State-Backed Hacking

“We have seen nation states on our trading networks and we haven’t fully answered the question what were they going to do,” Rogers said in an interview.

Hackers would have an unfair edge by being able “to understand the value of trades and the value of mergers and acquisitions before they would happen,” Rogers said.

Beijing has dismissed such allegations and has accused the U.S. of conducting cyber-espionage.