The Austrian emissions trading registry has been closed until further notice due to a hacker attack on January 10, it said on its website.

For security reasons, all access to the Austrian emissions trading registry has been locked because of a hacker attack on January 10, 2011, the website said.

The Austrian registry can therefore not be reached until further notice.

The registry has been disconnected from the EU and U.N. carbon registries, called the CITL and ITL respectively.

To ensure security it is currently not foreseeable when trading in the Austrian emissions trading registry may continue, the website said.

Market participants will be informed by January 21 when they can resume trading.

Emissions registries administer carbon permits called EU allowances (EUAS) under the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme. Benchmark EUAs were trading at around 14.60 euros ($19.48) a metric ton on Tuesday.

Registries have been on high alert after 1.6 million carbon permits went missing from the Romanian registry account of cement-maker Holcimin November.

They were also targeted in February last year by scammers who tried to gain access to carbon accounts through email phishing. The Commission then adopted measures to reduce the risk of unathorised transactions and fraud.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Jane Baird)

Hacking