I have discussed with chairman many times and find mgt trustworthy. They had a conference call with investors today

Stumbled on this post and would be remiss of me not to point out increasing cyber risks companies are facing, that can cripple operations.

1. Innumerable firms, esp skewed towards digital businesses face Denial-of-service attacks. Typically, ransom demanded in a DOS / DDOS is demanded in Bitcoins or in other crypto currency, throwing firms’ IT in a panic because systems may not be accessible bringing firms to an operational halt, and you need to get Bitcoins / crypto by some illegal means.

2. Most firms (in India) may not disclose it publicly because it will cause reputational damage. But damages can be inferred from disclosed attacks on US firms (which also may not disclose but now have to).

Some examples:

a. In June 2021, WSJ reported how an Eastern European hackers made mroe than 100 million on ransom after crippling many US hospital chains.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-ruthless-cyber-gang-behind-the-hospital-ransomware-crisis-11623340215

b. On May 7, 2021, the hacker group DarkSide breached the Colonial Pipeline’s network, using ransomware to encrypt the company’s data and demand a large payment in exchange for the decryption key. The attack shut down the pipeline’s operations for about five days, causing localized shortages of gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel. *

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cyberattack-forces-closure-of-largest-u-s-refined-fuel-pipeline-11620479737

c. Two big Las Vegas operators faced attacks that caused serious business interruption. A summary being cut-pasted below

3. FBI has issued specific guidelines on how to act if there is a cyber ransom, in many cases asking companies to withhold ransom payments. That puts firms in a real bind because not paying ransom money is damaging every minute, but paying it would mean you are not helping the cause. From the cases that I have read, firms take some middle ground often, they pay some, they hold some. But net net executives are quite not prepared to deal with these.

4. Insurance covers are yet evolving to cover damages and may not adequantely protect from such risks. Cyber insurance is a new area that is rapidly evolving but not fully established to provide cover under all events / for all damages.

5. US SEC Form 10K filers now have to separately report cyberattacks on their businesses. This means companies have to disclose how they were affected in their annual reports. I would say more often than not the 10-Ks I have read report such incidents, either on them or their suppliers, that cause many breaches. India may not take customer related info breach seriously, but disruption to operations (say gumming up an SAP system) can be dangerous to valuation.

Even in the case of Polycab, their announcement has not clearly specified the damages and to what extent it has been remedied. Their release says, “Currently, the Company’s systems are up and running, all factories are operating, and the Company continues to serve its customers. The technical team of the Company along with a specialized team of external cybersecurity experts are working actively on analyzing the incident.”

They do not say if the factories are operating normally (as before the attack). They do not mention if they paid any ransom or if there were any financial damages to remedy the attack. Their last sentence implies that the damages are not fully taken care of, for the future, because it is still being ‘analyzed by external cybersecurity experts’

*(AI generated based on my search)

What is your smallcap PF, can we have a glance, please.

Why should it impact anything? Electoral bond was meant for the purpose of political party funding. If there is not anything amiss, like disproportionate or huge amount, or any quid pro quo, it should not have any bearing on the company in my opinion.