American healthcare is a perfect cyber-hostage 7 Mar 2024 A hack at the biggest processor of insurance claims snarled billions of dollars of payments to US hospitals. The healthcare system’s interdependent web of middlemen means none can be allowed to fail, making it an ever-more-obvious target for the growing onslaught of ransomware.
Cloudflare risks a lesson in giants’ AI advantage 16 Feb 2024 At 23 times expected sales, the $34 bln cybersecurity firm is one of the most richly valued software companies. Using its network to power AI holds promise, but enormous spending and the risk of being overshadowed by titans like Microsoft makes investors look overambitious.
Peter Thiel’s latest bitcoin bet is a coronation 13 Feb 2024 The billionaire’s Founders Fund pocketed $1.8 bln in 2022 on crypto investments before dipping back in last fall. Bitcoin has since been anointed with an ETF and technology that furthers its use. The currency isn’t yet legitimate, but Thiel’s return marks its growing status.
Capital Calls: Microsoft’s Russian hacker 22 Jan 2024 Concise views on global finance: The $3 trln tech firm disclosed that a nation-state hack accessed leaders’ email, saying it showed the need for potentially “disruptive” measures. It’s a worrying acknowledgement of the still-vague costs of geopolitical tensions for tech giants.
Atos plea to creditor banks could backfire 3 Jan 2024 The 780 mln euro French IT group wants lenders to roll over its large debt pile. Plans to raise cash by selling Atos’s cybersecurity arm to Airbus suggest they should. But the company’s threats to seek legal protection if they don’t may give banks pause for thought.
Cyber-paperwork blizzard will soon blind markets 14 Dec 2023 New SEC rules force companies to divulge a hack within days of deeming it serious. CEOs wary of falling foul are apt to overshare. Such stock-swinging decisions, like ones from Clorox and Johnson Controls, will test investors’ analytical skills as much as corporate tech defenses.
Ransomware targets will pay one way or another 17 Nov 2023 Just saying no to extortionists – as the White House wants US firms to do – might stamp out ransom attacks. But the hack of Chinese bank ICBC shows why it’s not always realistic. Companies who won’t pay up need ever-better defenses. Either way, it’s an extra cost to be borne.
Stolen genetic data points to mutating cyber risk 17 Oct 2023 Biotech firm 23andMe may have fallen victim to hackers, joining other sabotage targets Clorox and MGM. Companies can strengthen their systems, but human error plays a role too – with customers and employees as potential vulnerabilities. That adds a new front to an ongoing battle.
Capital Calls: Starboard vs. Murdoch 16 Oct 2023 Concise views on global finance: The investment fund wants the publisher of the Wall Street Journal to spin off its real estate assets a year after another activist agitated for a similar move.
Retailer ‘shrink’ becomes too big to box up 3 Oct 2023 American stores lost $73 bln to theft last year, a nearly 20% rise from 2021, while Target just blamed crime for nine closures. Few chains report specifics, however, stirring doubts about anecdotal evidence. Consistent disclosure would help keep investors from getting fleeced.
Cisco’s $28 bln spelunking yields dicey deal 21 Sep 2023 Buying data and security outfit Splunk could increase recurring revenue at the $215 bln networking giant. Cisco is also paying a low multiple. But the two don’t have much overlap, and Splunk’s cloud-based business needs work. Cisco bears execution risk, which hinges on growth.
France wins more than Kretinsky in Atos breakup 1 Aug 2023 Billionaire Daniel Kretinsky will buy the IT group’s older assets for 2 bln euros including debt. Paris will be pleased that the other, sexier cybersecurity division stays French. Meanwhile the Czech tycoon gets the ailing unit with little relevance to his other recent purchases.
Capital Calls: Biotech alarm, Spotify’s tightrope 25 Jul 2023 Concise views on global finance: Pharma supplier Danaher’s reduced forecast contrasts biotech doldrums against broader market exuberance, in a warning sign for investors; the Swedish music streamer is caught between margin-hungry investors and music labels.
Markets are far from pricing in peace 26 Jun 2023 Germany’s Rheinmetall and other defence shares fell after an aborted Russian mutiny. Domestic instability may shorten the Ukraine war, curtailing lucrative contracts. Yet chaos in Moscow, Western tensions with China and rising cyberthreats will keep the world amply unsafe.
EU phase-out of Huawei, ZTE is tricky but vital 20 Jun 2023 Commissioner Thierry Breton wants EU countries to end use of Chinese telecoms gear on national security grounds. Some states have already cut Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks. The EU survived decoupling from Russian energy, and it can manage this. But it requires German buy-in.
Cyberattack risks rise up company agendas 18 Apr 2023 Digital breaches and data theft were up 40% in 2022. As firms expand their digital network, the weaknesses criminals exploit will also grow, DXC Technology’s security expert Mark Hughes told The Exchange podcast. Defending against attacks will inevitably cost more.
Israel hits tech sector cash cow while it’s down 3 Apr 2023 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed a controversial plan giving the state power to override court decisions. Foreign investors in Israel’s key tech sector, which accounts for half its exports, were already getting stingier. They’ll get even more so if the idea returns.
Cyber-risk gold standard is CEOs’ next headache 3 Mar 2023 With hacking on the rise, US regulators are set to force listed groups to swiftly reveal IT breaches, and how to fend off future ones. That will likely prompt laggard Europe to follow suit. Investors could start applying valuation discounts to those lacking apt cyber defences.
TCI’s Airbus fury may have collateral benefit 22 Feb 2023 Hedgie Chris Hohn says the plane maker’s plan to buy a 30% stake in Atos’s cyber arm will destroy value. He’s probably right, but private investors take a back seat in defence deals, where governments call the shots. His salvo might however help Airbus drive a harder bargain.
New threats will corrode infrastructure M&A 30 Dec 2022 Blasts that damaged Baltic pipelines in September alerted investors to the physical risks to energy networks from geopolitics. Add growing cyber concerns and the cost of insurance is set to rise. As the appeal of formerly quasi risk-free bets dims, states will surely step in.