In 1836, two brothers executed what is believed to be the first instance of hacking, exploiting France’s newly established aerial telegraph network. The pair leveraged their access to the communication system, which connected Paris and Bordeaux, to gain an advantage in the stock market. By intercepting and decoding messages, they obtained crucial stock market information before it was publicly available. This allowed them to make informed trades and profit from their privileged knowledge. The scheme represents an early example of financial manipulation utilizing technological infrastructure. Historians note the incident as a significant, albeit rudimentary, precursor to modern cybercrime and insider trading. The brothers’ actions highlight the vulnerability of even nascent communication technologies to malicious exploitation.