Cybersecurity

BA is guinea pig for tougher EU data rules

7 Sep 2018

The UK airline said some customer payment records were hacked. Companies used to shrug off such attacks. But this breach comes after the rollout of new data protection laws. Now that non-compliance means fines, such lapses are a headache for investors as well as customers.

Activist board hack is a boon for Symantec

16 Aug 2018

Hedge fund Starboard is seeking five seats at the $12 bln cybersecurity outfit after taking a 5.8 pct interest. Accounting troubles and upheaval in its enterprise software business have slashed the firm’s value by a third this year. Fresh oversight could help fix the bugs.

Breakdown: EU gains new powers for Big Tech fight

21 May 2018

Europe’s new privacy rule, the GDPR, prohibits covert data gathering and allows users to have information moved or deleted. The likes of Google and Facebook may initially find it easier to comply than smaller companies. But over time they’ll face a hostile EU with new weapons.

Chinese antivirus giant’s cash-call is well-timed

16 May 2018

360 Security Technology is making the most of its new home after fleeing New York. It’s capitalizing on an exuberant new Shanghai valuation to raise $1.7 bln through a private placement so it can chase AI and big data. This is another smart trade from founder Zhou Hongyi.

Holding: Lawyers can make even charity look sleazy

15 May 2018

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether Google can settle an $8.5 mln privacy lawsuit with nonprofit gifts. The tech giant says the public will benefit, but only attorneys win big while victims get zilch. As with M&A suits, legal eagles have soiled a potential good with greed.

Cut-price IPO virus infects Avast’s market debut

14 May 2018

The $3.2 bln Czech cybersecurity outfit priced shares at the bottom of its range, only to see them fall in early trading. High debt, an unfamiliar “freemium” model and governance questions merit a discount. Yet investors have erected a too-strong firewall after recent IPO flops.

Symantec leaves investors suffering from silence

11 May 2018

The maker of anti-virus software lost a third of its value after it revealed an audit investigation and then skipped its earnings Q&A entirely. Not talking about the inquiry is understandable. But ruling all topics off limits encourages shareholders to indulge their worst fears.

Facebook not Zuckerberg is under fire in D.C.

9 Apr 2018

It will be tempting for U.S. lawmakers grilling Mark Zuckerberg to focus on his all-too-apparent flaws. That would miss the bigger question: whether Facebook is too complex to manage, whoever runs it. That is key to knowing whether the company ought to be regulated.

Facebook’s size is its other looming problem

28 Mar 2018

The social network – like Google – collects massive amounts of intel on users to sell advertising. The more Google knows, the better its search results get. But adding ever more data risks making Facebook less entertaining – and its users more wary of compromising their privacy.

China techie’s $47 bln trade leaves arbs in shade

2 Mar 2018

Zhou Hongyi led a $9 bln buyout of his U.S.-listed antivirus firm in 2016. Now its successor is trading in China at $56 bln. That far outstrips what most hedge funds or commodity traders achieve in years of arbitraging price gaps. Alas for copycats, this is not easy to follow.

Intel flaws hint at tech “too big to fail” risk

4 Jan 2018

Researchers revealed bugs in the firm’s processors, as well as those of AMD and ARM, potentially making most computing devices vulnerable to hacks. Chipmakers need massive scale to justify huge investments, but a concentrated market means problems can become systemic.

Apple provides hedge against global tech backlash

19 Dec 2017

Authorities worldwide are stepping up action against technology giants over the way they erode privacy, use data to push rivals out of business and influence elections. As a security-minded purveyor of hardware, Apple stands apart. It’s likely to avoid the worst of the blowback.

Thales’ 4.8 bln euro Gemalto bid puts jobs first

18 Dec 2017

The French defence firm has crashed Atos’ tilt at Gemalto, offering a higher price. The deal brings modest returns and leaves Thales exposed to a struggling payments business. Its biggest shareholder, France’s government, may care more about the temporary pledge to spare workers.

Gemalto investors’ best call is the Atos helpline

14 Dec 2017

The digital-security group rejected its French suitor’s 4.3 bln euro offer. But Gemalto’s claim that the price is low looks iffy, and after four profit warnings a promised turnaround plan is unlikely to be persuasive. Shareholders are justified if they find Atos more convincing.

Data M&A bomb blasts hole in Iron Mountain

12 Dec 2017

Its $1.3 bln deal for IO Data’s U.S. assets wiped some 7 pct off the value of the records-storage company. It’s smart to expand into stashing information electronically. But Iron Mountain is paying way above its own EBITDA multiple for only a modest impact on earnings.

Atos’ brassy Gemalto bid promises thin cashback

12 Dec 2017

The French group wants to buy the digital-security firm for $5 bln. Gemalto’s shares had fallen 41 pct this year after profit warnings. Its units that make chips for bank cards and phones are struggling, and even generous cost savings would give Atos a mediocre return.

Uber cover-up makes new boss’s job even harder

22 Nov 2017

The ride-hailing app paid off hackers but didn’t tell regulators, or 57 mln people whose data might have been exposed. It’s an ugly coda to ex-CEO Travis Kalanick’s irresponsible reign. With Uber’s London future, for one, in the balance, Dara Khosrowshahi has his work cut out.

Equifax hack damage is only the start

10 Nov 2017

Revenue at the $13 bln credit arbiter’s U.S. data unit slipped in its last quarter, having previously grown at a 7 pct rate, even though a huge data breach was only revealed on Sept. 7. And that’s before the legal blows start to rain down. Investors are being too sanguine.

Yahoo ex-boss shows everyone’s in dark on hacks

8 Nov 2017

Marissa Mayer told senators she still doesn’t know who was behind a 2013 data theft affecting 3 bln users. Equifax’s CEO said the same of a breach involving 145 mln consumers. And Congress struggles to draft cyber rules. Amid such cluelessness, the epidemic can only get worse.

Equifax’s lax cyber defense made for easy target

3 Oct 2017

Former CEO Richard Smith told Congress the company’s failure to maintain software led to its data hack, and admitted he didn’t ask hard questions. The mistakes should be a lesson for other firms, and a spur for the White House as it considers replacing Social Security numbers.