March 13 (Reuters) - The Australian securities watchdog

said on Thursday it is taking fixed-income broker FIIG to court,

alleging it failed to implement adequate cybersecurity measures

over a four-year period, which enabled a hacker to infiltrate

its IT network.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

claimed these deficiencies resulted in the theft of

approximately 385 gigabytes of confidential data at the company.

Around 18,000 clients were notified that their personal

information may have been compromised.

The Australian firm was the target of a cyberattack that

lasted from May 19 to June 8, 2023. The breach affected its

entire IT network and some of the stolen client data was later

released on the dark web.

ASIC alleged that between March 2019 and 8 June 2023, FIIG

failed to take appropriate steps to make sure it had adequate

cyber risk management systems in place.

"Advancing digital safety and resilience is a strategic

priority for ASIC, and we have been actively engaging with

companies to support the continuous improvement of cyber and

operational resilience practices," said ASIC Chair Joe Longo.

During the four-year period that ASIC alleged FIIG failed to

uphold its cybersecurity obligations, lender JPMorgan ( JPM )

held assets on behalf of FIIG and its clients, valued between

A$2.89 billion ($1.83 billion) and A$3.7 billion.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) declined to comment to a Reuters' request for

comment, while FIIG did not respond.

According to ASIC, FIIG's alleged deficiencies included a

failure to adequately update and patch its software as well as

insufficient resources to protect against and prevent

cyberattacks.

($1 = 1.5815 Australian dollars)