Hacker

I laugh, “A really good hacker could convince the computer system to print the data to a file, the hacker's file. The hacker could then download the file, really delete the file and then make off with the data.”
The lady nods yes and says, “So my computer people tell me. Now, what would the computer hacker do with the data?”
“It depends on the data. If the financial data indicated that the company was doing very well, then the hacker could buy company stock and sell it for a profit, after the data was publicly released and the company stock price went up. If the data indicated that the company was doing very poorly, then the hacker could sell short company stock and buy it back, for a profit, after the data was publicly released and the company stock price went down. If the data indicated that the company was doing just so so, then the hacker would probably not really gain anything for his clever work.”
The lady then snaps at me, “You get your pay in company stock.”
I sigh, “I talked with top management here, before I hired on. Top management is not terribly competent. I could tell that the offer to pay me in company stock was made, because the stock would shortly be worth a great deal less, perhaps even zero, worthless. Each time that I would get paid some company stock, I couldn't sell it, because it was something called lettered stock, that isn't supposed to be able to be sold until a certain time in the future. However, I could sell short the company stock, pledging the soon to be worth a lot less stock that I received. I'm not permitted to sell the company stock, my broker can. As the share price of the company stock fell, I had already received pretty much the full price of the shares that I received as my pay. I also used some of my earnings to short sell more stock. I made a little money on the deals.”
The lady laughs, “You earned your agreed upon pay plus maybe 10% more. We could, theoretically, prosecute you, but the court would likely throw such a prosecution out, as the profits weren't large enough to really matter.”
“All I wanted was what I had earned, plus a little bonus for being clever enough to get out of a bad deal with a whole skin.”
The lady says, “Your hacker wasn't satisfied with just a little profit, he made millions, at least several millions.”
“I assume that you're gonna seize the profits from the hacker.”
The lady smirks at me, “There are several countries that don't have extradition treaties with the United States. In addition, what the hacker did isn't a crime in some of the countries.”
“Thus, the hacker could get very rich, if he can get to one of the countries.”
The lady says, “Yes. More so, since the money has already been sent off shore, to places that will take quite a while for the government to trace it. In fact, since the money isn't illegal in several countries, it may not be possible for the United States government to trace the money at all.”
I ask the lady, “Do you want me to try to trace the hacker?”
The lady smirks at me, “The United States government has several computer experts trying to do that, right now. The reports indicate that the chances are very slim.”
“Then, it seems that the hacker may just get away with what he's done.”
The lady says, “It seems very likely.”