Trading was halted for more than two hours on the New York Stock Exchange floor Wednesday after an internal technical issue was detected – which then set off speculation that a cyber-glitch at United Airlines and a temporary online outage at the Wall Street Journal newspaper were connected. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama had been briefed on the glitch that took out trading on the floor of the NYSE by White House counterterrorism and homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco and chief of staff Denis McDonough. He also said despite indications that it was not a cyber-breach, the administration was “keenly aware of the risk that exists in cyber space right now.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson tried to allay fears, saying, “It appears from what we know at this stage that the malfunctions at United and at the stock exchange were not the result of any nefarious actor.” He added, “We know less about the Wall Street Journal at this point except that their system is back up again as is the United Airline system.” Trading at the NYSE stopped around 11:30 a.m. ET though NYSE – listed shares continued to trade on other exchanges such as the Nasdaq.

Source: NYSE repoens after trading stopped amid United Airlines, WSJ.com tech issues | Fox News